Driving with Alzheimer’s

jpecherek

My father has Alzheimer’s he is pretty stubborn and controlling and does not understand that he needs to give up driving, everyone in our family is concerned but he still refuses to listen has anyone dealt with this?

Emily 123

This is a a common issue. Anosognosia, the person's inability to be aware of the changes the disease causes, is common in Alzheimer's. It's not really stubborness. It's the disease making it so the person can't retain a memory of what's happened. They genuinely can't recall any of the incidents that are alarming to you, and think that they're just going on with their life like they always have. If you try to raise your concerns they will think you're making something up. There are a lot of different approaches--I searched the threads & linked it below so you can see if there's a good match with your situation.

https://alzconnected.org/search?query=driving&scope=site&source=community

Also, this pdf helped me understand the disease better...

https://www.smashwords.com/extreader/read/210580/2/understanding-the-dementia-experience/Medium,Arial,Black,White,One-and-a-Half

[Deleted User]

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M1

Welcome to the forum. This is a very, very common issue. You may be able to report him to the state DMV anonymously--this varies by state. But don't be surprised if you have to resort to subterfuge of all sorts--including hiding the keys, disabling the battery, giving him a fake key, taking his license, not renewing his insurance--getting rid of the car altogether if you can. If he's been told not to drive and continues to do so, he--and your family--could lose everything you have if he causes an accident. And that's not to mention the threat of hurting/killing someone.

If you search, you'll find lots and lot of threads about this. Comes up in most families I think. See the thread further down in this discussion group about the woman who called a car dealership from her assisted living facility. Scary, scary.