How does aging affect my ability to drive?

As you age, your ability to drive can be affected by physical, visual and mental changes, either due to normal aging or due to illness, which make it necessary for you to evaluate whether you can safely continue to drive. How medically fit and high functioning people are plays a large part in determining fitness to drive, rather than just chronological age.

As you get older, changes associated with normal aging may interfere with your driving ability. Some obvious ones are impaired hearing, vision, memory and judgment. Other medical issues to consider include decreased flexibility, slower reflexes and less coordination, as well as medications that can cause sedation or confusion.