Each year, Older Driver Safety Awareness Week shines a spotlight on the unique challenges faced by our senior driving community. As reflexes slow, vision changes, and other age-related factors come into play, older drivers often find themselves navigating a road filled with new and evolving challenges. Unfortunately, older drivers can cause accidents and significant injuries despite their best efforts. Understanding the challenges associated with senior driving can help you protect your loved ones’ safety as well as your rights in the event of an accident.
At Marsalisi Law, the health and safety of our clients are our top priority. If you have been injured in an accident by a senior driver, contact our firm without delay. Our founder, Frank P. Marsalisi, is dedicated to relentlessly advocating for his client’s rights and interests. When you partner with him, you can have peace of mind your case is in the dependable hands of a seasoned legal professional.
Common Challenges Senior Drivers Face in Florida
Aging comes with many challenges that can impact your driving. A few of the most common hardships senior drivers face include the following:
- Decreased vision: As you age, your eyes become less light-sensitive, impacting your peripheral vision, depth perception, and acuity. Elderly drivers may miss signs, lights, or nearby vehicles, increasing the risk of accidents.
- Slow reaction time: Aging can affect timely reactions to sudden events on the road. If a senior driver fails to react in time to someone braking or unexpected debris in the road, they may cause an accident.
- Reduced physical functionality: Conditions like arthritis or weakened muscles can impact elderly drivers’ basic tasks like pressing pedals, using blinkers, or turning the wheel, heightening risks.
- Cognitive impairment: Safe driving requires cognitive functions like memory and decision-making. Alzheimer’s patients and other seniors with memory loss may become unsafe drivers if they operate a vehicle while unmonitored.
- Medication Side Effects: Older adults often take multiple medications, which can impair driving by affecting cognition, awareness, and overall driving performance.
To complicate matters further, some older drivers may develop a fear of getting behind the wheel due to these issues, causing anxiety and a significant decrease in their driving abilities.
How to Keep Your Senior Loved Ones Safe Behind the Wheel
Despite the challenges older drivers face, there are several steps they can take to improve their driving and avoid accidents, including the following:
- Attending regular medical and visual check-ups;
- Awareness and openness about their driving abilities;
- Using glasses if their eyesight is impaired;
- Arranging for alternative means of transportation;
- Take a driver’s safety course for a refresher.
If you are concerned about your loved one’s driving, it may be time to discuss their retirement from driving. While this can be a difficult conversation to have, it can help protect your loved one’s safety as well as the safety of others.
Contact an Experienced Car Accident Attorney at Marsalisi Law
If you have been injured by a senior driver, the compassionate team at Marsalisi Law is here to help. Our founding attorney, Frank P. Marsalisi, is fluent in both English and Spanish and is ready to help you seek the monetary compensation you deserve. We understand the unique burdens you face and will fight for you throughout every stage of the legal process.
To learn more about our services, schedule a free consultation today by calling (727) 800-5052 or completing our contact form. Marsalisi Law is Where Law Gets Personal!
