News

Dementia and Driving

Published Date:

According to the National Institute on Aging, there are more than 41 million licensed drivers age 65 and older on the roads, up from 26 million just 20 years ago. As a person ages, changes in health, including problems with vision, hearing, and reflexes, may affect driving skills.

The risk of being injured or killed in a motor vehicle crash also increases as a person ages. When a person has dementia, the risk increases more.

What happens when the person with dementia is no longer able to stay safe on the roadways? Click here to read an how to recognize an unsafe driver and what to do when your loved one can no longer drive safely.

More from SIU News

Anjali Patel AOA 2025 Winner

SIU medical student awarded national research fellowship for work on cancer-fighting immune cells

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Anjali Patel, a second-year medical student at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, has been selected for the 2025 Carolyn L. Kuckein Student Research Fellowship by the
skull base surgery team

Residents gain hands-on experience with world-class skull base surgeons

In the days leading up to International Skull Base Surgery Day celebrated on June 4, residents from the Departments of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery and the Division of Neurosurgery at SIU
Legion of Legacies medallion

Medical school celebrates 50th anniversary of inaugural class

SIU School of Medicine will celebrate a historic milestone honoring the Class of 1975—its first graduating class—at their 50-year reunion on June 21. They will offer tribute with the launch of a Legion of Legacies.