There is help available when it’s time to get an older driver to give up the keys. Jennifer Beyer with AARP Wisconsin says it’s a familiar problem for many Wisconsin families: how to convince an older driver it’s time to give up the keys. She notes driving means freedom. “Especially if you live in a rural area of Wisconsin, you’re really not wanting to give up the keys,” notes Beyer. “It’s hard for people to decide when they really need to stop driving.”
Beyer says it helps to introduce what can be a difficult discussion, over a period of time, rather than abruptly taking the keys from an older driver. “Not springing it on them all at once . . . maybe helping them find other sources of transportion, or talking with their friends about getting rides, so that it’s not, one day you have your keys and your independence, and next day you’ve got nothing.” To help the process, AARP Wisconsin is making “We Need to Talk” seminars available in Dane County. Beyer says if the program gets a good response, it may be expanded to other parts of the state.