Home Instead: Retiring from Driving: How to Make the Transition

Retiring from Driving: How to Make the Transition

Perhaps you can’t imagine your ageing loved one ever giving up driving. When you think about it, maybe it’s tough to contemplate your own life without a day or two behind the wheel, right?
In reality, older men are estimated to live on average 7 years beyond their ability to drive, and older women are estimated to live on average 10 years beyond their ability to drive*.

To understand what it means to give up driving, it’s important first to understand what driving means to an individual. For some people, it’s not about getting to the store, it’s about how they get to the store.
Pride of ownership is as important to some as privacy and spontaneity are to others. This generation of seniors, for instance, is used to the idea of going for a spin. It’s important to ask more questions and distinguish between necessity and pleasure because that makes a difference in how alternatives are perceived.
Being without wheels doesn’t need to spell isolation. If an older adult has given up driving, it doesn’t mean that life has lost its meaning or enjoyment.

Be Prepared with New Options
Regardless of our age, we all have important things to do and places to be such as family events, doctor appointments and the supermarket. Home Instead recommends that a senior driver prepares to stop driving, when determined necessary to do so, by coming up with new transportation options. For example:

Ask family and friends if they would be willing to be a driver in exchange for a meal out.

Are there senior transportation services in your area? Do you avail of your free Travel Pass?

Look for services that cater to those who are no longer driving such as hair stylists and doctors who make house calls, and supermarkets and pharmacies that deliver. 

Carpooling isn’t just for kids. Get together with senior friends or clubs to come up with options.

Make it Fun
Older adults who enjoy the spontaneity of an afternoon drive don’t need to give that up just because they are no longer driving. For example, taking the budget that a senior used to maintain her vehicle to hire a driver could make her the hit of the care community when she summons her driver to take her friends and her wherever they want to go. Or make public transportation a new adventure. Take a friend or family member along on some trial runs by bus, taxi or why not try out Hailo and Uber.

Think Outside the Box
Focus on activities that don’t require driving. Not all fun activities revolve around driving. If your senior is able, consider focusing more attention on activities such as gardening and walking.

While some seniors still might not like the idea of giving up driving, others might consider it a relief!