Hi, I went out with my mum in the car, with my mum driving, and a few things happened, one being that she didn't see a couple crossing the carpark and I had to shout out for her to stop, the other concern is that when she had parked the car, she didn't seem to remember what had just happened. I need to talk to her about it and I know she isn't looking forward to stopping driving but I know the time is drawing near. Has anyone any suggestions on how to approach and handle the conversation.
Hi Gill 1................I had recieved information about my Mum's driving not being up to standard from her friends. They provided this as a way of asking me to do something about it.
She would drive down one way streets, bump other cars in the car park, and forget where she was going or her way home. She had a very near miss with someone on a zebra crossing too. Her car bumpers, and the fact she always refused to drive any member of the family, led us to believe she was no longer safe.
This was backed up by her friends making up excuses as to why they couldn't go line dancing/shopping etc. They no longer wanted to travel in the same car. It was a very difficult situation and no ammount of persuasion for whatever reason was going to see Mum give the car up voluntarily.
I had no option but to write to the DVLA (which they treated annonomously). This resulted in Mum receiving paperwork which had to be filled out by her doctor, and consequently her licence was revoked.
I can honestly say I felt nothing but relief! Can you imagine the horror if she/others had come to any harm or lost their lives through her inability to drive safely, and all along I was aware of it but did nothing.
I will say that she totally blamed me, and gave me a horrid time for a while ( she had no proof, but assumed it was me because I'd spent so much time trying to persuade her to give it up). However that was nothing compared to that of a court case with possibly awful charges!
I felt awfully guilty taking her last bit of independence away, but it just had to be done, and I know I did the right thing! If in doubt please act with your head not your heart.