How to Talk to Your Senior Parents About Unsafe Driving

How to talk to your senior parents about unsafe driving

by adarsh.mp@thomsonreuters.com | May 13, 2021 | Car Accident Injuries

Driving always carries risks, no matter how competent the driver in question is. As your parents start to get older, you may worry about their driving competency. It’s only natural that you may start to wonder whether your parents will start to be slower to respond to hazards or have undetected port eyesight as they age. Therefore, it’s a good idea to sit down and have an honest conversation with them if you are concerned with their driving.

Having a conversation with your aging parents about driving safety could save lives, and prevent serious accidents from occurring. The following are some tips for how to successfully have a conversation about safe driving with your parents.

Be sensitive about the right time to have the task

Planning to have the talk ahead of time is a good idea. You may, for example, not want to bring up the conversation at the dinner table in front of the rest of the family. Instead, you may want to find a quiet time when it is just the two of you to talk.

Don’t be confrontational

Opening the conversation with the admission that you think your parent is a bad driver is not likely to garner the best outcome. This may come across as confrontational, and they may become defensive as a result. It could instead be a good idea to ask them a series of questions, for example, whether they have noticed any changes lately with their driving, or whether they are ever concerned about how other drivers on the road behave.

Be supportive

Show that you are on their side by suggesting positive actions to take to ensure they can still drive safely. For example, you could help them to arrange an optician’s appointment.

If you or a loved one has recently been involved in an accident, you should make sure that you look into gaining the damages that you deserve, no matter how minor it was.

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