I learned long ago that driving is a complex skill that takes years to truly master. Nowadays I get in the car without much thought, so many components of driving have become automatic. But wait, isn’t that one of the first challenges my husband faces, his autonomic systems don’t work anymore? Backing out of the driveway, I look right and left to make sure the road is clear. Oops, again the stiffness that comes with PD impairs my husband’s ability to do this. Heading down the street I see my neighbor backing out and hit my brakes, but would my husband be able to react in time to avoid a collision? At the end of the street there is a stop sign, so I pick up my foot to begin braking. What happens when my husband’s foot decides to freeze to the floor of the car?

Driving is difficult, as shown in the above scenario, and I was not even out of my neighborhood yet. It is also difficult to ask my husband to give up something that has been part of his life for 60 years and, to many of us, defines our independence. In our case, we looked at the changes Parkinson’s had created in his body, the tremors, the stiffness, the slowness, and spoke honestly about how those things might impact his ability to drive. He started limiting his driving to just daylight hours, then to locations very close to home before finally realizing that it was safer to let me take over.

I don’t always feel like driving and thankfully there are many different services available today that allow us to get around without getting behind the wheel ourselves. The traditional taxi has been joined by Uber, Lyft, and most communities also have senior programs that can accommodate wheelchairs or walkers. My husband and I don’t hesitate to let someone else do the driving when we are on vacation, why not extend that same concept to local transportation? I wear enough hats as a CarePartner, it is okay if I choose not to put on a taxi driver cap too.