This past week, I had dinner with the widow of one of my dad's brothers. I have not seen her for 30 years. She was and is a great aunt. She lived in the southeastern USA and I lived the bulk of my adult life in the mid-west, far west and mountain west. She grew up in my midwestern hometown; moved away after marriage, etc. One thing I remember is her mother and father. As her parents aged and when he mother became a widow, her mother moved south to be near her daughter (my aunt) and her family.

The aging matriarch bought her own house, car and was very self-sufficient. After her daughter lost her husband, together they sold their homes and moved to eastern Tennessee into a house my aunt bought. My aunt is in her early- to mid-70s -- very healthy and self-sufficient. Her mother is 95, also self-sufficient. Her mother decided to give up driving only last year, at age 94. She realized she was slowing down, taking longer to make decisions and having some vision problems.

It has been my experience that women are much more willing to self-regulate their driving than men. Pride seem to be the dominate reason, because they both experience a limitation on their personal freedoms.

In the medical profession, asking someone to give up driving is not taken likely. In fact, the "system errors" on allowing people to drive when that ability is questioned. I thinkhis is the right policy. Forcing someone to quite driving should be hard to do. Few people in the medical profession want to be the "bad guy/gal." The reality is that a decision is best made by multiple parties, unanimously.

In 2006, there were 30 million licensed drivers age 65 and older -- an 18% increase from 1996, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In contrast, the number of all licensed drivers increased by 13% from 1996 to 2006.

Each year more than 600,000 elderly adults stop driving because of their health, according to the National Institute on Aging.

There are many reasons that and elderly person's driving fitness should be questioned. It could be one or more of the following: poor vision including macular degeneration, stroke, arthritis, diabetes, obesity, epilepsy, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other forms of dementia, end stage liver and renal disease, orthopaedic procedures, and may other age-related issues.

The primary medical doctor, a geriatrician, an occupational therapist, the sons or daughters of the senior, even the senior, should all have a role in the driving cessation decision.

Stopping driving is more painful to those with limited options to public transportation, costly taxi rides, and family members. The elderly don't want to be a burden and requiring family members and neighbors to handle their driving requirements is a tough thing, especially in America.

This problem will continue to grow as we live longer and desire to remain mobile. I just hope the states take a prudent approach to the problem as opposed to an authoritarianism approach we are seeing demonstrated by our federal government in many other aspects of our lives.