Driving Miss Tammy
I knew the relationship with my car was coming to an end. Having always been a good driver, confidence had never been an issue–now it was. As I aged and my ataxia progressed, there were more visual changes*. I had already limited my car excursions**, but in my mind, that was no longer enough. I still had the judgement and cognitive ability to avoid being a careless driver, but not the visual precision and motor reflexes necessary to avoid the careless driver. I was happy to have anyone else drive, but the further loss of my independence was one more humiliation bullet to bite. It doesn't matter what accident circumstances are. In our litigious society, a person with the overt disability will always be seen "at fault". One look at a walker in the back seat, and my soon-to-be former insurance company would just write the check. I had to face up to not only increasing the risk of injury, but threatening our financial security as well. My impaired mo