In the early stages of dementia, many people are still socially engaged and able to manage daily activities-including safe driving. However, all people with irreversible dementia will eventually become unsafe to drive because of the degenerative, progressive nature of the brain disease. The question is: at what point is someone unable to continue to drive safely? That nagging question surfaces early.

Many caregivers report that they have allowed a family member with dementia to continue driving after they believed it was unsafe. At the other extreme, some family members overreact to common driving errors such as failure to complete a stop at a stop sign. They may blame these errors on the disease when the person may have exhibited this bad habit long before dementia. A single occurrence of poor driving usually is not cause to stop driving. It does, however, signal the need for increased monitoring.

These activities can help caregivers assess their concerns about the driving skills of the person with dementia:

• Create opportunities to observe the person with mild dementia while driving.
• Keep a written record of observed driving behaviors over time.
• Share observations of unsafe driving with the person with dementia, other family members and healthcare providers.