Now, don’t get me wrong. There are many responsible drivers, juniors and seniors, who know their health limitations, when to drive and when to be driven. This column is not about them. But I really get nervous when using the ATM at the bank drive-through and see Braille instructions on the machine. It appears those instructions are for the sight-impaired driver.

Recently, I had to renew my driver’s license and witnessed an interesting display of family love and kindness coupled with an outrageous lack of judgment. It seemed that Granny wanted to renew her license, so her daughter brought her to the license bureau tucked between the No More Tears Shampoo aisle and the Herbal Medical Cure aisle at a Kroger store. Granny stuck her one good eye in the vision test apparatus and succeeded in correctly naming more than half the characters on the chart. She was then steered to the fingerprinting area. When told to place her index finger in the recording slot, she appeared very confused. Her daughter was there lickety-split to raise the correct finger to the device. Finally, granny was totally lost when told to move to the left and have her photograph taken. Granny smiled at the blank wall with her back to the camera until the daughter said pleasantly, but vigorously, “Granny, turn this way so we can get your picture.” A few minutes later Granny had her new license. She zipped off in a red Firebird.

I asked the officer of the Department of Public Safety who served both Granny Firebird and me if she were concerned. She said it gets even worse, but all one really has to do is pass a vision test to renew a non-commercial driver’s license.

For a commercial license (to drive big trucks and buses), the health rules are a lot stiffer. If you have a history of high blood pressure, diabetes requiring insulin treatment, a seizure disorder, significant vision or hearing deficits, or loss or impairment of a hand or limb, you cannot get a commercial license. It would seem logical that the driver of a 30,000-pound truck shouldn’t black out on I-95.

The logic does not legally extend to the health status of Granny “Get Out of The Way” Firebird. Doctors everywhere are being faced with public and personal safety issues of an aging society in which most people get around via their personal vehicle.

As patients get older or as chronic diseases progress, the simple fact is that alertness, coordination and reaction times deteriorate. The older or infirm patient may even recognize the risks, but continues to drive in a dangerous struggle to remain independent for as long as possible.

As a matter of public safety, physicians are becoming stricter in monitoring patients’ capacity for safe driving and in the administering of health examinations for drivers seeking commercial licenses. As family members and citizens who share the road, we all have a responsibility to each other. If someone has a chronic illness, watch for signs of driving hazards. This may be particularly true for a month or more following any hospitalization. Weakness, confusion, dizziness, fatigue, and other symptoms, if present, should lead you to diplomatically prevent the patient from driving.

It is helpful to bring the matter to the attention of the physician who may not be aware that the patient is still driving. One of the worst tragedies is the patient who survives a serious illness only to die in an avoidable accident.