Driving requires many skills and attention to some details to ensure everyone’s safety. If you drive as a senior or know of one still active on the road, these effective safety practices for driving seniors will help reduce accidents or problems on the road.
Attention is important, and so is keeping a car well maintained to avoid issues that could grow bigger. As we age, some skills decrease. However, maintaining an understanding and awareness of the best practices will keep you alert and ready for anything.
Take a Vision Test
Vision is one of the first senses to deteriorate as we age, but there’s also a solution to this: wearing prescription glasses. As a senior, you probably know how easy it is to misplace items like this and have difficulty finding them. A vision test will ensure that you or someone you know is still in good condition for driving. You can then get glasses that help you. Legally, a driver’s license must say if the driver needs glasses to drive as well.
Avoid Medications and Driving
Some medications produce dangerous side effects when driving, such as dizziness, exhaustion, or sleepiness. These aren’t safe to experience on the road. If you take medication regularly, avoid driving until the effect is gone. You should wait and get back to all your senses before heading out to the car.
Keep Your Car in the Garage
Keeping a car safe and well maintained will decrease the chances of getting in an accident as a senior, especially when checking the car is part of your weekly or even daily routine. There are many benefits to parking your car in a garage, and doing this will prevent vandalism and exterior threats from damaging it. It’ll also increase protection against weather conditions.
Take a Hearing Test
Staying alert on the road means knowing what goes on around you when driving, including hearing cars honking, tires screeching and even trains crossing. Hearing is an essential sense that increases safety practices for driving seniors. Taking a hearing test after age 65 every six months will prevent deterioration from happening quickly and stop you from getting on the road unprepared.
Don’t Drive at Night
This safety practice is not only for seniors but for people in general. Driving at night makes it more challenging for the eyes to focus and can prevent other cars from seeing you. Some people love driving without sunlight because they find it peaceful and relaxing and probably have experience doing it. However, driving with natural light and without rain increases your chance of a successful and pleasant drive.
