Driving with Aged Hearing and Vision
Driving is a crucial part of many people's lives, especially the elderly. It is a connection to the outside world for health, family, socialization, and church. Our hearing and vision become less keen and our ability to respond quickly to situations slows down. With these lowered senses comes a wise responsibility to monitor your driving habits and look to improve.
With aged vision and hearing, it is harder to judge gaps in between cars when merging onto a highway or street, honking cars may fade into the ambiance, and street signs may become blurry. Frustration is another common sign among the elderly when driving, as exhibiting the signs of hearing loss and vision loss are not fun.
As the years pass on, it becomes more and more necessary to continue and refresh driving education. Other ways of staying keen on the streets are getting an occupational therapy evaluation, using public transportation, especially during the winter, and limiting driving to certain times of the day or areas with which you are familiar. Lowered hearing and vision does not mean limited mobility!