[Bob1960]

This friend is wanting to drive a car but some times she say she can't find the break. She has dream's in her sleep of not finding the break on the car. She has in past drived a car since high school. She is now 68 years old and started driving at 20 years old. She has Bi-polar and does have some Schizophrenia. She take's her medicine now.

Thanks for the help.

[Skeezyks]

Well... bi-polar disorder & schizophrenia aside, if your friend sometimes can't find the break pedal, driving probably isn't a great idea. (I'm 71 & I don't drive anymore.) Since your friend is 68, perhaps there are some services targeted toward seniors that could provide her with rides?

[Bob1960]

Originally Posted by Skeezyks

Well... bi-polar disorder & schizophrenia aside, if your friend sometimes can't find the break pedal, driving probably isn't a great idea. (I'm 71 & I don't drive anymore.) Since your friend is 68, perhaps there are some services targeted toward seniors that could provide her with rides?

She wants to drive real bad so she is going to rent a car with full insurance so she can see her grand kids in another city. She's done this before last year and did good. We will see. Thanks for the reply.

[Bob1960]

She went on a 230 mile trip to a large city and came back without any problems. She did real good driving.

[Bob1960]

Today she taking her medicine but she went to a local car dealer for work on her car and then for some reason she told a sales man she couldn't drive out of parking lot and she said she forgot how to drive. He went with her around the parking lot and she said now she can remember how. Her doctor at the mental hospital said she has dementia which I think she might just have it.

[Travelinglady]

In that case, maybe she shouldn't drive.

Take her to an amusement park and let her drive the bumper cars or go karts?

Originally Posted by Bob1960

She went on a 230 mile trip to a large city and came back without any problems. She did real good driving.

Did you actually ride along with her on this trip? Or is she just reporting to you that she "did real good driving"??

By the time I got my dad diagnosed with dementia, I had spent an hour in his garage mentally apologizing to the drivers of the red, blue, and black cars that he had scraped with his white one. So I rode along with him and got a terrifying first hand experience of what he thought was driving as well as he had his whole life. It was extremely painful to take his keys, but not as difficult as dealing with him causing an accident with injuries.

By definition, folks with dementia can't assess their own capabilities. Also, the symptoms especially at first can be episodic with fatigue or other factors. And almost no one Wants to stop driving. You can't take her keys, but you can question her assumptions about her safety for herself and others.

[Bob1960]

She been going on trips alone and doing great and driving me around cities with out any problems. Her eye doctor told she has good vision.