How do family doctors effectively persuade a dementia patient to hand over the car keys and accept the fact that they cannot drive anymore?

This is such an issue. My father lost his license due to Alzheimer’s but we could not keep him out of his car. He had two cars and he refused to stop driving. Eventually he got in an accident right in front of his house (the other car was totally fine) and we were able to have his car towed to the shop and told him the car was totaled and that was that. Then we had the second car “stolen” out of the garage. No more cars.

I don't know if a doctor can effectively talk him out of it. They can say they are not fit to drive, and report them to the DMV. Getting him retested is a great idea, hopefully he can hear firsthand that he is not a safe driver, good driver, or should be a driver.

This is when I'm glad my mom was all, "Sell the car kids, I'm done," when the eye doctor said it wouldn't be a good idea for her to drive anymore. Of course that makes us chauffeur on occasion, but thankfully I've worked it out with her caregivers to tote her around when she needs to. And every once in a while we take a quick trip here and there.

When I hear things like this, as I commented before, I think of the George Weller incident. Google it if you aren't familiar. 86 year old man turning the wrong way, going 60 mph through a Farmer's Market. All he could say when he got out was, "Why didn't you get out of my way."

Thank you for getting him evaluated. He and you deserve the dignity, and above everything else, the safety.

One area where Europe has the US best. Many places in Europe have such good public transit and alternative transit (such as bikes), that driving is not a necessity like it is in many places in the US.

Getting him retested is a very good idea.
You can have his DL pulled as an unsafe driver. He will have the option of appealing the suspension, but he has to do a driving test to prove his driving is acceptable.

A doctor does not have the ability to take away someone's keys. I feel their responsibility is to look his patient in the eye and tell them "you cannot drive anymore" and the reasons why. Then they send a letter to DMV telling them they feel his patients licence needs to be revolked. DH will get a letter requiring him to send DMV the licence.

I would think if the instructor feels DH should not be driving, he will take the licence right there and then. It may be up to you to take the keys and put them in a safe place.

I went through the same about a year ago. I was afraid to close my eyes when he was driving, there was no convincing him to give up driving. We went to our PCP, he suggested that he take a driver evaluation test. It includes some cognitive testing as well as driving. He failed on 3 counts, that ended his driving. We were also told should he get in an accident and he has already been diagnosed w Dementia - you can face a law suit for allowing him to drive knowing his thinking is impaired.
I hope he listens and takes the test.

I went through the same about a year ago. I was afraid to close my eyes when he was driving, there was no convincing him to give up driving. We went to our PCD - he suggested that he take a driver evaluation test. It includes some cognitive testing as well as driving. He failed on 3 counts, that ended his driving. We were also told should he get in an accident and he has already been diagnosed w Dementia - you can face a law suit for allowing him to drive knowing his thinking is impaired.
I hope he listens and takes the test.