Loss of drive

Seniors' driving pits need vs. safety

Elsie Carroll misses the little things.

She misses realizing she needed a stamp or a needle and thread and being able to drive to the store to buy them. She misses getting a call from a pharmacy to tell her that her prescription is ready and being able to say, “I’ll be right there.”

Mostly, Carroll, 76, misses the freedom of getting in her car and driving somewhere, even if it was nowhere in particular, whenever she wanted. She didn’t realize how much of a privilege it was until she stopped driving two years ago.

“There is a freedom to it. People don’t realize how blessed they are,” said Carroll of Rocky Mount.

Losing the ability to drive can have a negative effect on an older person’s entire life, said Jan Warren, executive director of Meals on Wheels in Rocky Mount. Being completely dependent on other people to drive them around strips seniors of their independence, affects their budget and often leads to feelings of isolation and depression.

“I think it hurts their self-esteem. The loss of independence that they have is all of a sudden-life changing in addition to all of the age-related factors that they have going on healthwise,” Warren said.

The problem is one the entire nation faces. More than one in five Americans age 65 and older do not drive for reasons that include declining health, concerns over safety or no access to a car, according to the Surface Transportation Policy Project’s Web site. The group is a national nonprofit transportation advocacy organization. More than half of nondrivers stay at home on any given day, often because they do not have transportation options.

The alternative for some seniors is to keep driving past the point when it is safe for them to do so, and that only endangers them and the people their fellow drivers, said Phyllis Bridgeman, home and community based services consultant with the N.C.Division of Aging and Adult Services in Raleigh.

Nan Strickland of Nashville used to be on the road all the time. For years, she was a driver with Meals on Wheels, carried several people to church every week and drove to nursing homes to visit patients.

Strickland, 93, gave up driving last year when she realized increased hearing problems were making it unsafe. Now when she wants to go somewhere, she arranges it with her children or a friend. Instead of money, Strickland rewards the friends who drive her around or do errands for her with small gifts such as a jar of jam or fresh vegetables.

“I try to do things at their convenience and let them know my needs,” Strickland said.

That is part of the problem though, Carroll said. Every time she needs something, it is at someone else’s convenience. When she uses Tar River Transit, she has to call a day in advance. The program offers rides to people who are physically disabled, elderly or on Medicaid and cannot use the regular city buses. Carroll occasionally pays a woman to drive her on errands, or a neighbor picks up a prescription for her. Carroll said she appreciates these options, but she misses being able to do things herself.

Not being able to drive is not only an inconvenience; it can be detrimental, said Carol Long, coordinator of the Volunteers Offering Independent Care to the Elderly program, or VOICE. The program offers Edgecombe County residents 60 and older free rides to doctor’s appointments, grocery shopping and errands.

“A lot of times, seniors are not going to doctor’s appointments because they cannot drive and can’t find a way. They are not eating properly because they cannot get to the grocery store. They may not be taking medicines because they can’t get to the pharmacy as readily. ... As a result of that, sometimes they end up in the hospital and sometimes in nursing homes,” Long said.

This is not as much of a problem for people who have a strong support system of family and friends who live nearby, but many seniors do not, Long said. Those are the ones who suffer the most, especially if they live in rural areas where neighbors are few and far between. Many have to pay cab fares, which can quickly add up.

Even if they do have friends who would be willing to help, often seniors do not call because they are embarrassed or do not want to be a burden, Long said.