An Amber Alert for seniors? -- Crime, Law and Justice, Louisian...

This is a great idea. My car will be sold at the first sign of dementia. My mother stopped driving when she got lost once on a rainy night and had to ask for help to get home. I was glad the family didn't have to intervene or persuade her to give up her wheels. It must have been hard for her, but she was a very sensible woman in every way.

This is a very good idea and Silver Alert should be implemented everywhere.

Thank you for thinking of us "Baby Boomers".

It is not anyones job to "think of you." If you cant remember where you are headed to or from, its time to give up the car keys. I'm 55, and I understand that I will eventually be unable to drive. I believe that at a certain age, lets say 60, there should be a mandatory yearly driving test. Also, certain illnesses should automatically disqualify you from being a licensed drive ie. Alzheimer's.

This woman was 86 years old. Why do you wait until there is a problem before you take the car away.

1. She is in an assisted living program.
2. She shows occasional signs of dementia.
3. She is EIGHTY SIX years old!!!

The car should have been gone a LONG time ago for crying out loud.

Senior drivers cause so many problems on the road it's not even funny. Of course, they don't realize that they're causing problems because they just drive away..they have no idea what they left in their wake.

I can't even count the times I've almost been clipped by a senior driver. I had to throw my car into reverse once to get out of the way of one. Thank God there was nobody behind me!!!!

I have no sympathy for the senior, or the people in their families who allow this to continue. You just don't wait until something happens to take the car away. You look at the situation and make a decision.
Anyone who suffers from "occasional bouts of dementia" is a good candidate.

Don't blame it on the government for not having a
"Silver Alert"...blame it on yourselves for delaying the inevitable.

Maybe they could call it an "ABNER" alert

When a person needs to be put into a home they CAN NOT DRIVE that would be a better law better yet why was she driving past 80 years old...

It has been proven time and time again that when you get older your reflexes and judgment are impaired.

When are governors to Illinois and Florida going to make it law? Just as there be a law that homes like the one Mary Zelter was in should have a transportation van and have a shopping day a couple times a month.

Just by what happened with Mary Zelter needn't have happened at all. If she had taken a cab she might still be alive.

Florida has too lenient laws when it comes to this and also some of the most dangerous drivers too.

Hey there Charmed. You are quite cold hearted. If this would happen to someone in your fmaily, would you like it if ppl posted stuff like your comment above?
My Grama (I know its spelled wrong, thats the was we have always speled it in referring to GRAMA...) is 88, to be 89 on Aug 5 and she does fine with driving. She does have slight memory loss, however, she drives at most within a 4 mile radius of her home. She drives to the funeral park, two grocery stores and the Dollar General. She thought about giving up her keys last year, but she passed her test and is very cautious. Mind you, she is still 88 y/o. Just because someone is old and lives in an assisted living facility and has a few bouts of dementia, doesn't mean they are unfit for the road. Assisted living is just that. Living with assistance. That doesn't mean that this lady had someone changing her pants, i.e diapers, waking her up, taking her to breakfast, lunch, and dinner. A lot of elderly are moving into assisted living facilities for the companionship of other people their age. If they needed the hour to hour care, they are not assigned to an assisted living home, they are assigned to a nursing home. Most seniors in an assisted living facility do not even have the nurses or cna's coming into their apartments. Yes, I said apartments, not rooms. Rooms in those places are assigned and lived in by residents of the nursing home itself!!!! Go back to your Senior hating corner of your room and don't come out until you can be nice! If it weren't for Seniors, you wouldn't be here!!!! Remember, your parents are or will be SENIORS some day, and you will be too!!!!!

I agree compleatly. My grandfather had Alzheimer's. He had a bad hip, and he would get so confused and forget that he was even in pain.
One day we woke up to a phone call from a friend of the family that my grandpa had walked 4 miles in the dark and was found in a Subway parking lot.
Imagine if our friend hadn't driven by at that time?
He walk across a bridge, he could have ealily lost his balance and fallen in to a river and died.

DAVE wrote:

Maybe they could call it an "ABNER" alert

LOL

I used to be an assignment editor at a TV station. We got at least one call a day (usually from a woman) asking us to broadcast a missing person notification for her husband. "..it's not like him to not come home or check in..."I was still fairly young and/or naive until I got "educated" on this. I talked with the police, who were usually aware of the case, and told me, "uh, he's not really missing,we've talked with her before. We've contacted him. He's outta here."
Maybe we could issue mid-life crisis" alerts...

I propose a "Bronze Alert" for when I misplace my keys.

Perhaps we should have a booze alert when we suspect that our alcoholic loved one is missing on a binge with the car too! How about a missing husband alert? Dementia and its dangers is very troublesome, but society cannot protect everyone form everything. The Secretary of State needs to be more vigilant about pulling drivers licenses from the infirmed as do families to protect their loved ones and society form them as well.

Sounds like a good idea!

I agree that some elderly can drive. I have relatives well over 80 who have continued to drive without incident. But this woman shouldn't have been driving, and I fear there are many more like her. Taking away driving priveleges is a very hard decision that needs to be made as a family and with a doctor. We did make that decision with my mother and we are all more comfortable with it. No, it was not an easy decision and we must face the repurcussions and complaints.
How would you feel knowing that the driver in the oncoming car has sporadic bouts of mild dementia? Would you be a passenger in that car?
I think this is a fantastic idea, though, because there are more ways to get lost than just in a car. And there are ways to get a car even when you've had your privilege removed.

Put GPS chips into everyone over the age of 70 or earlier if necessary.

Ruth wrote:

It is not anyones job to "think of you." If you cant remember where you are headed to or from, its time to give up the car keys. I'm 55, and I understand that I will eventually be unable to drive. I believe that at a certain age, lets say 60, there should be a mandatory yearly driving test. Also, certain illnesses should automatically disqualify you from being a licensed drive ie. Alzheimer's.

It's not only older people who should have to be re-tested periodically. I'm 70 and I'm appalled by the number of people who wander from lane to lane for no apparent reason and signal neither their lane changes nor turns. It's much too easy to get a driver's license. Much more study should be required to get a license, and both the written and behind-the-wheel tests should be more thorough. Enforcement of road laws should be more thorough. And, everyone should be thoroughly retested periodically, perhaps every 5 years. If they fail, they should be given a month or so to prepare to be tested again and, if they fail again, their licenses should be taken away. To be re-licenses, they'd have to be retrained and retested.

Here in the U.S., the road fatality rate is about 30% higher than in the UK, even though we have better roads. Here in New Mexico, the fatality rate is about 30% higher than in the U.S. as a whole.

There is no excuse for having so many incompetent, inconsiderate, inattentive, absent-minded, and sloppy drivers. Degeneration with age can be a problem, especially for those who make no effort to keep themselves fit and do not have a healthful lifestyle. But incompetency unrelated to age is a bigger problem, and there seems to be no effort to address that problem.

The issue with Mary Zelter is very sad, but her daughter is wrong. Zelter signed herself out where she lived, which did not alert any alarms. She must have often driven to the store. The fact she didn't return would have set-off the Amber Alert, and by that time she was already unfortunately dead. While the car was found 7-days later, that does not mean Zelter was driving around town for seven full days. She most likely had her fatal accident just after leaving the store the same day she left.

Zelter's daughter states had there been an Amber Alert for senior citizens, her mother may be alive. That would only have happened if Mary Zelter was not allowed to sign out to drive to the store. If that was the case, she would have likely been found at Albertsons and would be alive today.

However, why did Mary Zelter have to drive out to a store? Couldn't her daughter pay her a visit and bring her what she wanted?

And if there was a problem of this, why did the daughter let her mother drive anymore?

Rod wrote:

However, why did Mary Zelter have to drive out to a store? Couldn't her daughter pay her a visit and bring her what she wanted?

Most people prefer to be independent. How would you like to have to ask people continually to get things for you? I do not understand why people are unable to understand that.
Of course, she should not have had a car available, but that's another matter.

This is a good idea. Some people have wandered off on foot and ended up dead in the forest preserve. Seriously, what does it hurt to have this alert?

I agree with the other readers. This is a good idea. It will allow seniors with mild to moderate dementia an opportunity to stay at home with their family longer, as long as there are no other safety issues.

Adult day care is an idea that should be used by families so they can get the much needed break they need while keeping their loved one mentally active and posssibly slowing their decline

by Susan Berg author of
Adorable Photographs of Our Baby-Meaningful Mind Stimulating Activities and More for the Memory Challenged, Their Loved Ones and Involved Professionals a book for those with dementia and an excellent resource for caregivers and healthcare professionals. http://www.alzheimersideas.com
http://dementiaviews.blogspot.com
http://activitiesdirector.blogspot.com