For seniors, ‘hanging up the keys’ is a life-altering experience

Seminar coming to Sebastopol Senior Center in September
The majority of drivers will outlive their ability to drive, according to the Sonoma County Area Agency on Aging, which in conjunction with the Sebastopol Area Senior Center will present a series of seminars to help guide friends and families of those who may have, in determining if it is time to encourage their beloved elders to think about “hanging up the keys.”
The one and a half hour presentations — to be held at six area senior centers — will identify what driving means to people, how to observe if there has been a change in driving skills, how to have the conversation about “hanging up the keys” and how this huge life change may affect family and friends, the Sonoma County Area Agency on Aging (AAA) states in a press release.
Three weeks following the seminars, presenters plan to coordinate with each of the senior center presentation sites to offer support groups for the people who have or are contemplating graduating from driving.
“We have a large booming population right now of seniors and we are all going to be facing this. Part of what we are trying to do is keep people safe and if that means giving up their licenses we want to offer a viable option,” said Sebastopol Senior Center Transportation Coordinator Dean Brittingham, who will present the seminar with AAA volunteer and therapist Gail Van Burren, along with Rabon Saip, the man who initiated the program after voluntarily relinquishing his own car keys years ago.
“I stopped driving in 1984, due to my limited eyesight,” said Saip, who sits on the AAA Advisory Council. “It was probably the worst withdrawal any human being could experience. So after 32 years of driving, of independence, and freedom of mobility, I turned the keys and it was over. I turned the vehicle off. My limited eyesight was such that I voluntarily stopped driving.
“What followed that experience was depression, isolation, and just a period of adjustment. I didn’t want to ask people outside of my family for help. … I initiated this project to support those who go into that dive after they stop driving. It’s very dangerous,” he said, noting the seminars are for friends and family, but the support groups are for those who are actually going through the transition.
“This is the New Age of aging. This is a problem that is just going to increase. The majority of drivers out there today will outlive their ability to drive. We also know there are currently 22 million drivers over 70-years-of-age in the United States. What we are tying to do is educate people to be prepared for this event, rather than wait until it becomes a crisis,” Saip said.
The Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) does not restrict drivers simply because of their age. In fact, Brittingham knows a 90-year-old man who was just given a five-year-extension on his license and he was only required to take the written test.
However, by law, drivers who are age 70-or-older must renew their licenses in person and take a vision and knowledge test upon renewal. After 70, they are no longer able to renew their licenses by mail, said Jessica Gonzalez, public information officer with the California DMV.
“When it comes to drive tests — they are required for conditions, not age. Certain conditions such as Alzheimer’s or Dementia and other conditions that affect a person’s ability to safely operate a motor vehicle will generate a drive test requirement. But again, those are conditions not age in and of itself,” Gonzalez said.
“Lack of skill will also generate a drive test requirement. For example, if a police officer observed poor driving habits that, in the officer’s opinion, represents an immediate traffic safety hazard, the officer will complete a notice of Priority Reexamination, which in turn will mandate a driving test,” she said, adding, a family member or doctor can also complete a notice of Reexamination for a driver.
The DMV offers “conditional” or “restricted” licenses to any driver who feels he or she shouldn’t operate their vehicles on busy streets or freeways, or at night, for example, Gonzalez said.
The DMV also offers a Senior Ombudsman program that is specifically designed for outreach to seniors, to help educate and provide tools to extend their safe-driving years, she said.
The free Hanging up the Keys seminars will be open to a maximum of 25 people with preregistration required.
To register for the Sebastopol seminar call 829-2440. The presentation will be held from 5:30 to 7 p.m., Sept. 20, at the senior center, 167 North High St.
Seminars will also be held from 5:30 to 7 p.m., at senior centers in Petaluma (Sept. 12); Cloverdale (Oct. 17); Healdsburg (Oct. 24); Sonoma (Nov. 7); and Santa Rosa (Nov. 14.)