On the Road Again

It's kind of hard to believe, but I may be driving again soon. Ever since moving here I have been in back-and-forth correspondence with the provincial licensing and insurance agency. Here in Saskatchewan, there is an agency equivalent to the DMV called SGI, that does everything the DMV does and also administers auto insurance. When I went to get my drivers license, I was required to report that I had a medical condition which might affect my driving. There was a series of letters that I had to respond to, and finally in December I was required to have my doctor fill out a form.

Somewhat to my surprise, he said that I had nothing wrong that would impair my ability to drive at that point, and recommended that I take a road test. I thought, fine, I'll take it in the spring after the snow melts, because I was in no hurry to get back on the road and was a bit nervous about driving in the ice and snow. Then, a couple of weeks ago I received a letter from SGI stating that I had to take my road test before March 3, or  my license would be suspended for noncompliance. I called and asked if I could delay the test, and they said no. My only options were to either take the test by March 3, voluntarily surrender my license, or have my license suspended.

I explained the situation to my physical therapist and occupational therapist, and they said maybe I should just get back to driving. My occupational therapist did some tests with me, including speed of moving my foot back and forth to simulate quickly stepping on the gas and brake, and a reaction time test that involved using both hands to press buttons that would light up in various places across my entire visual field including peripheral vision. These tests are normed on elderly populations, and I am average or above-average for a person over 72 years old. This means that I passed the tests, suggesting that I have the physical capacity to drive. At my last physical therapy session we worked on having me get my walker in and out of the car by myself. We also worked on getting the walker up and down a short flight of stairs, which I would have to do to get in and out of the house on my own. At my next occupational therapy session I will be trying out a driving simulator.

It was recommended that I go out in an empty parking lot and just see what driving feels like. There was a bridal show going on where we expected to have a big empty parking lot, so went out this afternoon to the cemetery instead. There was not another living soul there, so I was pretty sure I wouldn't hurt anyone. Also, everything was covered in several feet of snow, so if I hit anything it would be a snow bank. I drove around at a top speed of about 15 mph, on the winding roads of the cemetery, which were plowed but still quite snowy. Jeff was in the passenger seat, nervous at first, but once I got going he said it felt like I was driving just like normal. He even asked if I want to  drive over to the University where we were headed (I did not). I need to call SGI tomorrow to clarify what I am legally allowed to do right now-- I certainly need to practice more before taking the road test, but I'm not sure what my status is in terms of being allowed to drive.

But it looks like I really might be driving again soon. It's kind of hard to imagine having that much independence again. It's exciting and also a little bit scary – I haven't been anywhere by myself since June. I think I will go ahead and make the appointment for the road test, so sometime before March 3 I will probably be on the road again!