I think 6 months isn't terrible - a lot of states are 6 months. Some are a year, which I think might be a little harsh, but I wonder how much of that is due to the newspapers and the way they report it?
If a car accident occurs because a driver had a seizure, it's nearly the first thing they say, and then the article goes into almost a diatribe about seizures and how dangerous it is to have people with seizures driving and taking the lives of motorists into their hands.
But if an accident is caused by someone driving under the influence, there's no diatribe. It's like "meh, somebody had a few drinks or got high and then drove. Let's send them to rehab so they will be good next time." The courts handle it far differently as well, even giving drinking and driving multiple chances and allowing them to continue driving. To me, that seems a bit imbalanced. (And yes, I'm very, very biased here, having been involved as a victim in two serious accidents caused by drivers who were highly intoxicated and who got slaps on the wrist but were allowed to continue driving).
Those of us who have seizures tend to know our bodies pretty well and make the conscious decision not to drive if we suspect we might have a seizure that day except in a dire emergency. We are not going to risk our lives and the lives of others, as a general rule, over a medical condition that we have little control over should a seizure happen "out of the blue." It is no different than a heart patient or a diabetic driving and yet, there are few, if any, restrictions preventing patients with those conditions from driving, though the risk is just as great, if not greater, for them to be driving as it is for us.
Those, however, who have shown a pattern of making poor conscious decisions to consume mind-altering chemicals before getting behind the wheel are still permitted to do so freely and to take their lives and the lives of thousands of others into their hands and to me, that just doesn't seem right at all.
Granted, I'm not going to run out and start driving today, even though I have a legal and valid license because frankly, it is not yet safe for me to do so because they haven't got my seizures under control and I would prefer to not take the lives of others into my hands so cavalierly (besides, my doctors have very strongly advised me not to do so). But the point, to me, is that the attitude with which the states and the media approach the issue needs a good hard look because it is completely inequal with the way it is approached for other medical conditions and out of balance with crimes and that is what makes me scratch my head a bit.
