In our latest What Car Should You Buy entry, a reader wanted advice on what car his father-in-law should get to replace his current BMW X5. The problem was less the car itself and more that it was too big for him to drive safely anymore, so they were looking for something smaller. We all suggested alternatives, but if I’m being completely honest, the right answer is that it’s probably time for the father-in-law to stop driving altogether. Unfortunately for him and so many other aging drivers, in most of the U.S., when you give up your keys you might as well cut yourself off from society while you’re at it.
It’s no secret the country’s infrastructure is almost entirely designed around cars and sprawl. Thankfully, things are starting to change for the better, but many of the mainstream conversations on improving walkability tend to focus on healthy, able-bodied people who would prefer not to drive as opposed to those who shouldn’t or can’t. Grandma may have a big, beautiful house in a quiet suburb, but if she can’t drive, she’ll basically be trapped at home unless someone comes to visit her. Sure, she can order clothes online and have groceries delivered, but humans need social interaction, and they shouldn’t have to choose between putting other people in danger and total social isolation.
Ironically, while this subject has been on my mind since I started looking for my answer for WCSYB, the Detroit Free Press also published an article this morning focused on the exact same thing. It starts with the author recounting how awful the experience of giving up her keys four years ago has been for her own mother. Elizabeth Wall is currently 94 but managed to keep driving until she was 90. And while that’s probably for the best, it doesn’t mean selling her car didn’t turn her life completely upside down:
When you’ve lost your independence, it’s everything. You live in a completely different world.
…
You immediately enter the twilight zone and become a child. Life as you knew it is profoundly transformed. You no longer make decisions that affect your life. Other people make those decisions for you. You seem to have surrendered your sense of privacy.
If the U.S. had different priorities and cared about its elderly beyond just tossing otherwise independent people into a nursing home, things would look a lot different, but one look at our infrastructure makes it clear that most politicians and voters couldn’t possibly care less. Anne, a retired pharmaceutical sales rep put it perfectly, telling the Free Press:
In this country, we do not have the infrastructure and support to take care of people who can no longer drive. If you cannot get around, you can’t go where you want. You can get someone to drive you, but how do you do things you like to do? Even if you don’t want to go somewhere, knowing the vehicle is in [the] garage, and you can go if you want, matters.
Reading through the many anecdotes featured in the article is heartbreaking, but it’s also impossible not to think about how different those conversations would have gone if any of the elderly drivers in question had lived in dense, walkable areas with good public transportation. My grandfather lived in Evanston, Illinois (shoutout to Tag’s Bakery and those smiley face cookies, by the way) until he could no longer live independently, and while it wasn’t exactly Vienna, he was at least able to get around and socialize without needing a car. After my grandmother died, he didn’t have nearly as much motivation to go out on his own, but at least that was an option.
This isn’t just about Grandpa being grumpy he has to take a Lyft to poker night, either. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has shown loneliness and social isolation are both linked to serious health issues, including dementia. The social isolation that people experience while essentially locked up at home, unable to walk anywhere except in circles around the block, increases the risk of premature death, a 50-percent higher risk of dementia, a 29-percent increase in risk for heart disease, and a 32-percent higher risk of stroke. That’s not even touching the increased risk of depression, anxiety and suicide.
Meanwhile, it’s also well-established that walking is an incredibly important part of longevity, especially for older folks who can’t handle running or other high-impact exercises. As the National Center for Biotechnical Information found in a recently published study:
Walking’s favorable effects on cardiovascular risk factors are attributed to its impact on circulatory, cardiopulmonary, and immune function. Meeting current physical activity guidelines by walking briskly for 30 min per day for 5 days can reduce the risk of several age-associated diseases. Additionally, low-intensity physical exercise, including walking, exerts anti-aging effects and helps prevent age-related diseases, making it a powerful tool for promoting healthy aging. This is exemplified by the lifestyles of individuals in Blue Zones, regions of the world with the highest concentration of centenarians. Walking and other low-intensity physical activities contribute significantly to the longevity of individuals in these regions, with walking being an integral part of their daily lives. Thus, incorporating walking into daily routines and encouraging walking-based physical activity interventions can be an effective strategy for promoting healthy aging and improving health outcomes in all populations.
We know social isolation is terrible for people’s health. We know it only gets worse when they sit around all day. And yet, any time the subject of making the U.S. more tolerable for people who can’t or shouldn’t drive comes up, people freak out, spouting 15-minute city conspiracy theories and screaming about how no one should ever be allowed to ride a bicycle if it means they can’t speed through Manhattan in their Suburban or might have to see an apartment building.
Why? Because, ultimately, America doesn’t care. There are plenty of individuals who do, but as a collective, we simply do not care about the health and happiness of people who don’t drive. The elderly? Just die already. People with disabilities? You should’ve thought about that before you decided to go and get disabled. Kids? Why should they get to have a fulfilling social life before they can drive?
To be clear, I’m not saying everyone should be forced to live in some car-free urbanist utopia. If you want to live the rural life and can accept that you’re trading services for space, go for it. I went to high school across the street from a cow pasture and spent several years living in Lumpkin County. I get it. But fighting to keep towns and cities unwalkable only hurts the most vulnerable members of society. You might not care, but I sure do.