Am I really capable?

O

Olafhardt

New Member
I am 80 years old. Several years ago it became obvious to me that my faculties had deteriorated so that I have no business behind the steering wheel of a car. So I quit driving. I like in the country over 15 miles out of town. This required me to significantly alter my life which I did. My youngest son helped me a whole lot. Impaired driving is deadly dangerous. If you can't drive safely don't drive even if you have to change your whole life!
 

Something we all have to face eventually. Someone asked me a question yesterday that I haven't even thought of. I'm semi prepared. I have a will, but someone asked if I have someone who will be my power of attorney when the time comes. I have no idea how I will handle that. All the people I trust are either far away or my age, and there is no guarantee any of them will be capable of taking that on when the time comes. And it doesn't help to depend on being "young at heart" to solve this one. There are difficult aspects of this reality. I'm happy I only have to go through it once.
 
Kudos to you for choosing your safety and that of others over ego. Apparently you are still capable of making good decisions. I've heard stories of people who refused to give up driving at the urging of their families, who obviously thought their loved one couldn't drive safely. Right after my father died, my mother (about 83 at the time) somehow ran into something that partially tore the passenger side door off. Before that, I saw no indication she shouldn't be driving, but I knew on that day, she was terribly upset and distracted. She chose to never drive again.
 

JustDave said:
Something we all have to face eventually. Someone asked me a question yesterday that I haven't even thought of. I'm semi prepared. I have a will, but someone asked if I have someone who will be my power of attorney when the time comes. I have no idea how I will handle that. All the people I trust are either far away or my age, and there is no guarantee any of them will be capable of taking that on when the time comes. And it doesn't help to depend on being "young at heart" to solve this one. There are difficult aspects of this reality. I'm happy I only have to go through it once.
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I suggest that now is the time to talk with possible "candidates" for being your POA. See how each of them feels about taking on the task. So much is handled online now and even by phone. But I don't know exactly how much would need to be handled in person or if providing the proper credentials, though not in person, would suffice. Sooooo...that would be a question to ask your financial institutions and other entities where a POA would be used.
 
Marquest said:
I have driven very little in the past 15 yrs, bc I don't have a car anymore. And in the most recent yrs, around 7 I'd say, not at all. I've seen what the new cars look like now and couldn't deal with the complexities. I'm turning 80 in 4 months. Pretty sure my driving days are done.
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You can still be a passenger in a car driven by a family member or friend...it's the next best thing to driving yourself and is probably your best option..
 
For me, arranging transportation with uber or Lyft is the easy part.

I wrestle with losing that feeling of independence and control that owning and driving my own vehicle provides.

I try to remind myself that I didn’t drive or own a car for the first twenty years of my life and did just fine.

I also try to remind myself that it would actually be significantly cheaper to buy my transportation by the ride instead of owning a vehicle.

I’ll probably end up paying for and keeping a fully insured vehicle in the garage even after I stop driving. 😉🤭😂
 
I will only drive when conditions are *ideal. Probably I’d be ok. As a passenger, I backseat drive just fine. What I couldn’t deal with is causing an accident. I walk, take a bus, sometimes ask my husband. He’s always willing to drive me, but I know it might be tiring for him.

*Ideal for me means not bright, not night or not too busy.
 
Olafhardt said:
I am 80 years old. Several years ago it became obvious to me that my faculties had deteriorated so that I have no business behind the steering wheel of a car. So I quit driving. I like in the country over 15 miles out of town. This required me to significantly alter my life which I did. My youngest son helped me a whole lot. Impaired driving is deadly dangerous. If you can't drive safely don't drive even if you have to change your whole life!
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I'm glad you were smart enough to realize that. Car keys and house keys are two of the hardest things to give up.
 
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