My single mom that lives out of town has dementia but does not recognize she is not safe to drive.

Good for you for taking her keys, before something bad were to happen.

Just let her cuss. Have a standard response and let it go!

I had the same issue with my Aunt.
First thing I did was disconnect the battery cables so the car wouldn't start! She thought it must need repairs.
Her license was expired , but she still needed an ID to do business, so I took her to the DMV. We went through the motions and when it came time to do the vision test, she couldn't pass it.
Although she still doesn't recall what happened, it didn't matter because her car was "broken ".
Her car has been donated.
That's at least one issue solved!

Let her cuss, you can hang up the phone once she starts.

Far better her have a conniption than killing someone on the road.

Applause for your courage and wisdom to take away her keys. Might you also be able to remove her car and place a note where she kept her keys saying her car in not functional and is "in the shop"? Maybe this would prevent her from calling and cussing you out. Also, you can anonymously report her as a danger on her state's DMV website. They will send out a letter telling her to come in for an eye or road test. Don't enable her to get to that appointment, just let her license expire. Also, if you are durable PoA you should sell the car and cancel the insurance. Why waste money on it? If she has family, friends and neighbors who are willing to drive her places she would probably enjoy the company more than miss driving herself.

On a side note, she really sounds like she should be in AL...my MIL eventually forgot to eat and passed out when we were together. This is definitely a dealbreaker for your mom living by herself.

I've had the same issue to deal with. My mother even demanded that I take her car to her at the Assisted Living Facility so she could "go places." She is a partially-blind, 85-year-old senior with alzheimers and a long list of other medical problems. Anyway, she kept nagging me about the car, so I reported her to the Department of Motor Vehicles. She received a nice letter in the mail, telling her to come in to the nearest office to take a driving test. She was also to bring a list of medications she was currently taking along with her eyeglasses. She was told that failure to appear within two weeks from the date of the letter would result in her license being suspended. I asked her if she wanted to take the test, but she didn't want to go. Two weeks later, her license was suspended. She never mentioned her car or driving again. We eventually went to visit DMV so that she could turn in her license properly.....she cried and asked me what she did wrong. She was totally unable to understand that she was no longer able to drive or that she would be jeopardizing her life and the lives of others by getting behind the wheel of a car. It was really very sad.

My Aunt with dementia and macular degeneration kept wanting to drive.
We disconnected the battery cables to her car. She thought the car had mechanical problems.
We explained (fibbed) that her car would have to be towed to a repair shop. She couldn't afford costly repairs and soon forgot about driving.
It worked like a charm!

Is she functioning well in Independent Living?
At what point will you transition her to Memory Care?
If she is not remembering to take her medications she should at least be in Assisted Living.
And if she truly wants to leave, as indicated by her desire to drive is there a possibility that she would wander off? Even if she got on a bus with the other residents to go to Walmart on a Friday morning might she "forget" and wander out of the store?
I see a potentially dangerous situation here and one that might not end well.

Toy car with no motor, like some would get for their young kids.

Definitely no rationalizing with the demented brain.

I took Mom’s keys away after her ER stint in November, a diagnosis of mild neurocognitive disorder and attending physician saying no more driving until evaluated/tested. Husb and I were called all sorts of names and threatened to call police because I ‘took’ her keys (her car, her property).

After a month or so, Mom’s neighbor alerted me that Mom is driving!! I’m SURE she paid for a new key fob from the car dealer. Two days later, I mailed a detailed letter to the state explaining why Mom shouldn’t be driving, along with letters written to her PCP last summer detailing changes in Mom AND doc reports from Nov. hospital stay.

All this to say, if you can move her car, do it!

Keep us updated on your progress.

You are smart to take her keys. Let her curse you out. You would feel awful if she was harmed or harmed others in an accident.

Where is she going that she has to go right that minute? Of course you are concerned about her. So sorry that you are dealing with this.

Should she be alone? Is she reaching a stage where she needs more care?