By ops@our-hometown.com | on September 07, 2022

“I haven’t driven more than 50 miles in the last year,” says North Chesterfield resident Timothy Pace. And with good reason – he has macular degeneration, an eye disease that is robbing him of his vision. On the rare occasions when he does drive to very familiar places, he needs to wear special glasses to help with lighting.

The rest of the time, the 77-year-old former federal judge for Social Security has to depend on family, friends and neighbors to get him where he needs to be. “I use family members and Uber,” he explains, when he visits his wife at a nursing home in Henrico County. Fellow students help shuttle him to Midlothian’s Lifelong Learning Institute, where he teaches, takes classes and socializes. “It’s just too much traffic on Midlothian,” he adds. “I’m afraid of having an accident.”

Pace is just one of many seniors who, after years of driving and being independent, need to find ways to get out and about once they stop driving.

“With the aging baby boomer population getting up there in years, by 2030 there’ll be more than seventy million people 65 or older here in the U.S.,” says Morgan Dean, manager of public and government affairs for AAA Mid-Atlantic. “From 85 to 90% of them will be licensed to drive and because [of] the longer life spans, these days seniors are actually outliving their ability to drive safely by an average of seven to 10 years.”

“But senior drivers are actually among some of the safest ones out there on the roadways,” Dean says. “They do a lot of the right things: They’re always buckling up, they tend to obey the speed limit, they avoid alcohol. However, seniors are more likely to be injured or killed in a crash due to age-related fragility when they get up to that age.”

Data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration confirms that, reporting that 6,549 people 65 and older were killed in traffic crashes in 2020 – 17% of all traffic fatalities.

Everyone has heard a horror story about a senior who won’t stop driving, or the joke about having to “pry the keys from my cold, dead hands.” All kidding aside, it is understandable that individuals don’t want to relinquish the independence they’ve become so accustomed to. For seniors like Pace, the need to stop driving is based on medical reasons. For others, it is a comfort level; for some, it comes with the encouragement of family or friends, who worry about the senior drivers’ safety – or the safety of others on the road.

Dean says that a discussion about giving up driving is not a one-size-fits-all conversation, and in fact, there’s no specific age for planning for this.

“We all age differently,” he says. “We all have different challenges or different things at different times. So it’s really hard to put that number on it, but I do think it’s incumbent upon family members and loved ones, you know, to be focused sometimes on: Have there been changes, are there things that we need to talk about?” That time might be as someone retires and starts to plan for the years ahead, Dean suggests. “It’s something that people should talk about a little bit in advance … just as a lot of people plan out their retirement from work.”

When evaluating older drivers, it helps to look at their vision and hearing, physical fitness (including medications), attention, and ability to quickly react to sudden changes. Do they have more dings in the body of the car or have they had a greater number of fender benders? Have they been ticketed more frequently? Are they having trouble reaching their destination? What’s their level of comfort in the vehicle and on the road?

A number of resources are available for older drivers – and those who care about them – as they prepare to put the car keys down and determine the best course of action for their situation. AAA and AARP, along with many auto insurance companies, offer information to guide members – and nonmembers – on the importance of reviewing defensive driving techniques and refreshing their knowledge of key road signs and traffic laws.

The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles and the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services have developed the GrandDriver initiative, which also provides Virginians with information and resources about staying safe and mobile on the road as they age, along with suggestions about how to improve driving skills. CarFit, a collaboration between AAA, AARP and the American Occupational Therapy Association, promotes continued safe driving and mobility among older drivers by focusing on safety, comfort and fit.

Part of any conversation about discontinuing driving should include what happens next: How will they get groceries, keep up with medical appointments and stay involved with friends and activities. It is important, says Dean, “to show family support … working with them to understand the other options that are available to them and that they’re not being, you know, shut down and left out.”

For those times when family and friends aren’t available, local seniors can turn to the Shepherd’s Center of Chesterfield, a nonprofit that provides a variety of services for seniors helping them to stay independent in their own homes. “There’s not always a family member around,” says Executive Director Susan McCammon. “We have some clients who’ve outlived their children.”

The transportation provided by the Shepherd’s Center, she explains, “is free accompanied transportation. That means that our volunteer driver, who’s driving his own car and using his own gas, will actually go to the client’s home and pick them up at their front door.” Drivers, McCammon adds, are vetted and insured.

Since 2001, Shepherd’s Center’s pool of drivers, most of whom are seniors themselves, have provided more than 25,000 rides to seniors in the community, with 750 clients currently enrolled in their services. Rides are limited to medical appointments, prescription pickup, grocery stores and food pantries. It takes time, so trips need to be scheduled a week in advance. “We always need drivers” says McCammon.

Chesterfield County’s Mobility Services department is another county-based resource that offers ways to help seniors get around and stay engaged. Mobility manager Tracey Clock says about 10,000 county residents are registered for the transportation programs offered by the county, with nearly 1,200 active riders. These programs, Access Chesterfield and Access on Demand, provide county residents who are ages 60 and older, disabled or low income with a transportation option to get them to work, medical appointments, grocery shopping and even social activities for only $6 each way. The county picks up the rest of the cost.

Access Chesterfield is a van-based program that picks up and drops off multiple riders. Access on Demand provides door-to-door private rides. The programs utilize three vendors (Dependacare on Demand, Roundtrip and Uzurv) and provide safe, dependable rides for passengers, including residents using wheelchairs. Once a registration form is filled out, the residents are ready to set up their rides.

Transportation is not available to Richmond Airport, train or bus stations, and most trips need to stay in the county, Clock explains, but for work and medical appointments, riders can go to Richmond, Petersburg, Colonial Heights, Hopewell and Fort Lee. Clock says that when it comes to medical appointments, “A family member, friend or neighbor can ride along as a companion, at no added cost. It alleviates a lot of stress.”

Mobility Chesterfield’s services are available seven days a week and can even transport small groups – such as friends going to lunch. The program is open to those who still continue to drive as well as those who don’t. “It is an affordable way to get places,” says Clock, “to do the things they need to do. Many seniors get in the groove of not going out. It leads to social isolation and causes depression.”

Thanks to a $15,000 grant from the Genworth Foundation, Mobility Services of Chesterfield will pilot a program this fall with the Lifelong Learning Institute to cover the $6 cost of rides to and from the education center on Westfield Road for members like Pace, who may have difficulty getting to class. Pace is encouraged by the options he and other seniors in the county have.

“This assistance by Chesterfield County and a transportation system, making more things accessible – whether it’s doctor’s appointments or whatever, or just meeting at a local restaurant – has the potential for something that would be well-received with the aging population and a disabled population and gives their life purpose,” he says. “Social isolation is a killer for old people.” ¦

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