Fatal accident raises concerns over dementia and driving

[NOW tense]

By Brittany Anas

BOULDER, Colo. — Minutes after police say her car hit and killed a man, Mary Jo Anne Thomas fumbled through roadside tests, was slow to answer questions and seemed "spacey," an officer investigating the accident noted.

Police at the scene of the Jan. 30 fatal accident in Lafayette said Thomas seemed unaware that she was the suspect -- and, in her confused state, the 62-year-old believed she had been hit by a car.

The roadside death of victim John Breaux, and the resulting arrest of Thomas, was a double tragedy that raises a debate about balancing personal freedom with road safety, say some. A close friend of Thomas' said that she suffers from dementia and Alzheimer's, and should not have been driving because of her condition and the prescriptions she was taking.

Snip


Lawmakers are hesitant to consider legislation addressing memory loss and driving rights since cases of Alzheimer's and dementia -- and the rate of their progression -- vary drastically among individual patients.

"I don't know how you can legislate that," said state Sen. Rollie Heath, D-Boulder. "I have a real struggle with that. If you say nobody with dementia can drive, that won't go over well. I think you'd be laughed out of the state house."

Heath said perhaps there is a certain age when seniors should be required to reapply for their driver's licenses more frequently.

Currently, Colorado drivers are required to renew their licenses every five years. In 2005, the state stopped issuing 10-year licenses, which were allowed for drivers younger than 61.

http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2009/feb/07/dementia-alzheimers-john-breaux-mary-thomas/

[midnight]

1. Transportation issues in this oil ecomomy leave many people

only a car to move around with. This situation makes me wonder if this would be another reason to provide safter, cleaner, more accessable modes of transportation for everybody. There are other reasons for this idea to move forward, but we can add this to the list.

[enough]

2. This struggle of "taking away the car" is a watershed in almost every family

with an Alzheimer's sufferer. Of course there intense issues of autonomy and loss of control for the individual. But also, if the person can't drive, then someone else in the family has to do all the driving for them. The entire family structure has to be radically re-adjusted. And if the person is isolated and has no family support, then there are a whole other set of problems. It's a cruel, cruel disease.

[NOW tense]

3. I agree.

I think this whole story is devastating for both families. When posting this I debated with myself if the woman’s name should be in it. I concluded that maybe it could be used as a lesson for other people in similar situations.

[enough]

10. Absolutely. The families of ALZ people need to keep these stories in mind to

give them courage to do what has to be done even though it's so hard. If you read Alzheimer's caregiver's message boards, you will see these stories posted by caregivers with great sadness and reminders of how important it is to get vehicles out of the hands of those with dementia. Often, the CAR problem is the thing that finally gets the family to fully confront the reality of the situation.

Another thing you see commonly on Alzheimer's forums is caregivers pleading with others to deal with the problem immediately and not put it off.

For anyone dealing with this issue, I highly recommend the Alzheimer's Caregiver's Forum at this link:

http://alzheimers.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/frm/f/214102241

After a very quick registration, you will have access to a vast wealth of knowledge, compassion and experience by those who are really in the trenches of dealing with this disease.

[Azooz]

4. About the victim, John Breaux:

‘Treasure of Louisville’ killed on U.S. 287 - A beautiful soul being honored.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x421397

[NOW tense]

5. Thank you. I should have put that in the post. n/t

[haw river]

6. I say Amen

My golf pal for 56 years.
Was taking treatment for Dementia
Several wrecks. Two bad but no one ever injured.

Put in resort hotel(nice rest home)

I told his neice he had been driving for one year handicapped.

She said no Two years.

He was lucky he did not kill someone.

Last wreck and we kept car from being repaired so he could not drive.

How many are on roads like him?

[acmavm]

7. Too many. My son's best friend's mother was pinned under a car driven

by a 93 year old with 'health issues'. I never found out if she was mentally equipped to drive but I doubt it considering the physical shape she was in. But without a medical degree my opinion is worth nothing.

[Karenina]

9. I was rear-ended by an elderly man in Santa Monica

many moons ago. He was clearly disoriented and I managed to wrangle his son's phone number out of him while promising not to "tell on him." The negligible damage done to my Z didn't equal my concern for his and our community's safety, so after assuring his safe arrival at his home, I called his son. The man was totally distracted, explaining how ham-strung the whole family had been in getting Papa OFF THE ROADS. We had quite a long talk and the issues we covered stood me in good stead when my little sister was the one charged with taking Mom's keys before she hurt herself or someone else. We succeeded, but it was NOT PRETTY. As we boomers age this is sure to become a much larger problem if left unaddressed.

[indepat]

8. My late father's driver's license had been routinely renewed to age 100

notwithstanding having totaled his car and significantly damaged his house more than once as his progressive and irreversible dementia blossomed. :D

[TNDemo]

11. You can contact the DMV in your state for help.

My mother came down with Alzheimer's at the same time her mother did. My mother would complain bitterly about how her mother was a danger on the road and would not give up driving and how if she kills someone she will have that on her conscience for the rest of her life. She had no concept that she was also impaired and we were trying to figure out how to get the car away from her. She was in her early 60s so it took awhile for us to realize what was going on and whether she was truly impaired. She was only driving short distances to the grocery store and to church and none of us lived in her town to help out but for one thing we were unsure how impaired she was and the other was she lived out where she could not walk anywhere and there was no one to take her. So one day she went to church and pulled out in front of another car. No one was hurt but her airbag went off and banged her up. The car thankfully was totaled. She immediately wanted another car and was very hostile toward us trying to keep it away from her. I called the DMV and they said they could ask her to retake the driver's test. We all agreed that if she passed the test, then we would be okay with her continuing to drive. She was completely stressed out with having to take the test and trying to study and never took it, though she was bitter about why she was singled out to retake the test. We told her it was because she had had an accident but she didn't buy it (for good reason). We took her to the DMV and she turned in her license and got an ID made for check cashing purposes, etc. It was horribly hard to get the cars away. I feel for the family but ultimately it is for the safety of the community.