toledoblade.com --

Richard Huhn drove his uncle's flashy 1929 Buick when he was just 12.

Years later, assigned to the Army motor pool in World War II, he chauffeured officers in France, Belgium, and Germany. "I drove down the main street in Paris," he remembers.

Now 94, his vision severely impaired, Mr. Huhn doesn't drive anymore. His ophthalmologist insisted he quit about four years ago.

The soft-spoken East Toledoan misses being at the wheel, "but there's nothing I can do about it," he said.

Dangerous drivers can be young, old, or in between, but the problem is commonly associated with the elderly because of the toll that aging takes on the senses, physical abilities, and thinking skills that are critical to safe driving. Some give up driving voluntarily; others have to be persuaded, forced, or tricked into it. Concerned relatives and friends can even contact the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles about a driver they believe to be incompetent (for details on the procedure, see Question 25 at bmv.ohio.gov/driver_license/dl_faq.htm).

It's not a simple matter of safety. When we give up the car, we surrender a lifestyle and a mindset.

"When you look back to when we all got our [driver's] license, think about the freedom and independence we felt," said Emilie Owens, vice president of home care options for the Area Office on Aging of Northwestern Ohio. Losing driving privileges, she pointed out, signals the beginning of the end of control over our affairs and decisions.

How will I get to the doctor's office, grocery store, and church? How will I pick up prescriptions? How can I visit my friends?

"If a person stops driving, their world narrows pretty quickly," Ms. Owens said. "There are many reasons an older person continues to drive, even if they realize they have limitations."

Ann Huhn, Richard's wife, said she probably was more upset than he was when he was told he couldn't drive anymore. "Because here we are cut off completely. There's no way to get anywhere."

Mrs. Huhn, 85, who has never driven, said they get by with the help of people who are close to them and various community programs that offer rides.

Loss of independence

Families who take away the keys should be ready to step up and help the former driver, Ms. Owens said. Switch prescriptions to a pharmacy that delivers, or to the grocery store where they shop so errands can be combined. Contact the Area Office on Aging for information about transportation programs and meal-delivery services. Hire a driver if you can afford it.

Steve Norwood, 56, of Defiance, observed that, "The rite of passage of a young person today is getting their license, and for the older person it is losing their license."

On a nice Saturday afternoon at the end of March, his dad, Don Norwood — who turns 86 on Tuesday — left his home in Leipsic, Ohio, to take a drive.

"We got a phone call about 11:30 at night from the Flint, Michigan, police department. They picked him up doing about 25 miles an hour on the expressway," his son said.

The police thought they were stopping a drunk driver. Instead they found a confused, exhausted senior, still wearing his sunglasses. Later, he was diagnosed with early dementia.

"My sister and I told him we didn't think he should drive anymore," said Mr. Norwood, who now has the car so his dad won't have to see it as a constant reminder of something he can no longer do. They told him to think about the welfare of other people too, just as he had taught them when they were growing up.

"Driving for him was his independence. Now he feels like he's confined to the grounds. He doesn't have that freedom. ... I'll ask him. ‘How are you doing?' He'll say ‘I'm not happy, but I'm content. I really wish I could drive but you won't let me.' That will come up every time I visit him."

Ironically, Mr. Norwood said, years earlier his father had been forced to take the car keys away from his own elderly father.

RIchard and Ann Huhn. Mr. Huhn, 94, has stopped driving. Mrs. Huhn never drove.

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Refresher courses

People are living longer today and driving at a much older age than in the past, noted Lynne Chapman, an occupational therapist and clinical professor at the University of Toledo health science campus, the former Medical College of Ohio.

And some do it well.

"My father was almost 92 when he died. I would have ridden with him anywhere," said Gwen Neundorfer, coordinator for the Lucas County Traffic Safety Program.

Cars can be adapted to compensate for physical limitations, she said, citing devices that build up pedals or make a steering wheel easier to turn. Physical therapy can build strength or ease stiffness that limits movement.

Refresher driving courses can help, and may offer the added bonus of an insurance discount.

AARP has a course for motorists age 50 and over that is presented at places such as hospitals and senior centers. (Call 888-227-7669 to find one nearby).

The State of Ohio also has a mature driver course given at selected locations including Key Driving School (bright.net/~key) in Napoleon, Defiance, and Delta.

"I have one gentleman who calls me almost every year to make sure that what he's doing out there on the road is still safe. He's probably in his 70s," said Bonnie Lech, owner.

Not all come to her voluntarily. "Sometimes people call and say, ‘Mom needs to go out,'" Miss Lech said.

She reviews new traffic laws, checks basic skills, and looks for adequate reaction time and other measures of driving competence.

‘No room for error'

Another way to gauge driver safety is to undergo an evaluation by an occupational therapist, usually at a doctor's request although individuals can contact providers directly. Locally, those include the Comprehensive Rehabilitation Program at the UT Medical Center and Flower Hospital's Total Rehab program.

"We try to provide a really objective measure," said Leslie Vassar, coordinator for rehab services at Flower. "Our goal is to keep them driving if it's possible, but also ... help people realize when it's time to stop."

UT's Ms. Chapman said that in her evaluations she has seen some extreme cases — people who manually move their leg from the accelerator pedal to the brake, and a man who used his fingers to hold his eyelids open — as well as drivers who are safe as long as nothing unexpected happens. Some do well on short jaunts, but don't have the attention span to make their annual drive to Florida.

"With driving, unlike doing dishes or yard work ... there's no room for error," Ms. Chapman said.

Her tests cover vision (including depth perception and sensitivity to glare), reaction time, cognitive skills, physical strength, range of motion, and other abilities related to driving. She also asks questions, among them: how does your family feel about your driving? Have you received any citations recently?

"Awareness is really important," Ms. Chapman said. Some people may be genuinely oblivious to their dangerous driving. Others admit they've scraped up the car a few times lately, or that other drivers honk at them a lot.

She also tests them on a driving simulator that provides hard data on how many times they went off the road, for example, or made other mistakes.

One or two missteps isn't necessarily a cause for alarm, "but once you start seeing a lot of these things, it's almost impossible to compensate for all of them," she said.

Ms. Owens, of the Area Office on Aging, said it's difficult but essential for families to address the issue with a relative who has become a road hazard, and to have a plan to help them get around once they can't do it for themselves.

Look for ways to open the conversation naturally: I've noticed you have some dents in the car. Or, your friend told me he won't ride with you anymore.

Ask them: Wouldn't you feel terrible if you hurt someone? What if you have an accident and you're sued?

Many already know their skills have eroded, have become apprehensive behind the wheel, and have limited where and when they drive.

"As I grew older, driving was not as pleasant as it used to be," Mr. Huhn acknowledged. "There are more vehicles, more crazies out there."

Contact Ann Weber at: aweber@theblade.com
or 419-724-6126.

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