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Do you still drive?
Tremors can make it really challenging to maintain control while you’re operating a vehicle. For this reason, my dad has (mostly) given up driving. He defers to someone else whenever possible. But I know that this couldn’t have been an easy shift.
If you live with Parkinson’s, do you still drive your car? If so, do you have any concerns about a future where you might not be able to drive?
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5 Replies
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I do still drive but try to minimize exposure to aggressive traffic which seems more prevalent these days. Tremors are amplified when I feel pressured by tail gaters or being cut off ….or some sort of confrontational setting.
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I don’t drive much at all. My husband is my chauffeur.
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Mój parki to 17 lat. Jeszcze jeżdżę, kilka dni w tygodniu, i obiecałam sobie że kiedy zauważę coś niepokojącego w trakcie jazdy to rozstaję się z samochodem. Pozdrawiam wszystkich z PD i ich opiekunów.
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Still driving but I take some precautions:
Try to leave shortly after taking LC to get maximum benefit of “on” time
Avoid night driving
Drive with a partner for trips longer than an hour so that we can switch if I become fatigued
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After 12 years I still drive, but only around town while running errands. And even that can pose its share of risks. For example, just last week or so I was waiting in line at a stop sign just down the street from my house in broad daylight when I dozed off. This prompted our late-model Subaru to ease forward as my foot on the brake relaxed. Had this happen with our older Subaru I would’ve plowed into the car ahead of me. But this late-model Forester woke me up with its alarms screaming at me just after it automatically slammed on the brakes. At first I thought for sure I’d hit the guy. This is the third such instance of falling asleep at the wheel. The other two were even scarier because they happened in a 2014 model BMW on twisty two-lane highways where the road took a turn while I just kept going straight.
My neurologist has been saying I shouldn’t drive at all. The thing that bothers me the most is this feeling of being trapped inside our village where health care is spotty at best, and where I have to have my 78-year-old wife drive me to every appointment. For the past three months she hasn’t been able to drive at all because of a broken elbow.
The only way I feel I can travel any distance safely would be if I bought an ultralight.
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