Has this happened to anyone and if so what state do you live in.
In the state of Oregon, your physician can send in a form to the DMV to have your license revoked. In most cases in my experience it occurs with elderly who are not making good judgements or who are physically limited and can cause an accident.
Technically, I think drs. are supposed to report pts. w/seizures to DMV, though I suspect it will depend on your dr. as well as the state you live in.
Each state has laws applying to seizures & driving, so it's best to check what laws apply. :)
Hi Dana,
It varies state by state, and states sometimes change their rules. For example, in KS, you used to loose your license for a year after a seizure, then it changed to six months. To my knowledge, states don't differentiate among kinds of seizures--to them, a seizure is a seizure, same, same.
IIRC, the way the KS rules state ' you have to be seizure free for six months to restart your license'. I think our state, once notified by the DR, requires you to surrender your license. And I think DRs in KS have to notify the state of a patient having seizures. For many years, each year after Chari got her license back, the state sent a letter to be signed by the DR stating she was seizure free to the best of the Dr's knowledge. Kept them honest.
It's a little goofy though: Here, if a DR is altering or changing your anti-S meds, and you have a seizure during that time, it's a freebie and you don't loose your license.
Both my wife and son have had seizures. She could feel her's coming on, so I was less worried when she drove. My son's, they just happened, no warning. Much scarier to me.
To me, the more important issue is I don't think you want to hurt yourself or others by driving and having a seizure. For my son, even after he got his license back, we tried to limit his driving exposure.
Not being able to drive is a giant PIA, but it does offer your friends and family a great opportunity to assist, and it doen't take much effort on their part.
We had small kids when Chari couldn't drive. But we had great friends / neighbors. (And this was before so much social media). If Chari needed stuff from Walmart or the grocery, she had two small flags she hung on the mailbox, indicating which store she needed. Someone would stop, grab the flag, and find out what we needed. Chari could either go to the store with the friend, or give the friend the list. Easy/peasy
Later, we had a friend who's husband was dying. She needed some help with finishing restoration work on their house. Rather than email or call friends, she had a blog. She'd post something like "I needed someone to come hang sheetrock on Saturday afternoon." Friends reading her blog, would respond "I got it covered!", so it was fast to ask for help, and you didn't have 45 people showing up to help. Might consider something like that. Were I to do it again, I'd get a debit card and fund it with a coupla hundred, making it easier for someone to pick up stuff for you.
With social media so rampant now, it would even be easier (not that I know how to use it).
Best wishes,
Ron, KS
Some great ideas Ron, thanks for the very helpful advice!... oh wait, I didn't post this. ;)
(((GRIN)))
This link should answer your question…http://www.epilepsyfoundation.org/resources/Driving-Laws-by-State.cfm
I was having a lot of partial seizure last starting last spring up to my recent surgery. I asked my doctors if I should be driving in case i ever have a grand mal. Different Doctor all said to use my own judgment! I didnt get my license revoked. I always thought it was weird but at the same time I know my partial seizures didnt affect my driving... I was just afraid the seizures would get worse.