Do you think driving laws are fair with regards to epilepsy?

Are driving laws pertaining to epilepsy fair?

  • Yes

    Votes: 162 45.5%

  • No

    Votes: 122 34.3%

  • Not sure

    Votes: 72 20.2%
  • Total voters
    356

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That is the great political question now...Be responsible to whom? The societal views by what the law says? To those in your immediate community & family? These are not always aligned. It is my political belief that the state does not need to know every detail of my medical records. Contrary to what has been suggested for me to report myself to the WA DOL, I have yet to find any RCW (Revised Codes of Washington) stating that one needs to turn themselves in to the DOL(Dept of Licensing). So, I have uncovered what I consider a gray area in the law that presents itself with some ambiguity. We all know this ambiguity exists so with the aforementioned spelled out a little more clearly then my previous post...Does one volunteer their seizure history to the state if it is not "mandatory"?

Cheers,
Mike
 
stilldancing_98 said:
My biggest thing is there is a lot of traffic out here in WA state. I have a son with epilepsy to. The thing I teach him is be responsible for your own actions. If you could kill yourself or somebody else with the seizures then make your decision based on that.Be responsible for your actions.
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I am confused by your tone here...Are you suggesting that I am not being responsible? Please expand upon your meaning to the above post as I am currently interpreting as you are preaching to me rather then having a conversation. I hope to have conversations here rather then saying that I am so irresponsible that I would purposely risk the lives of myself and those around me. Let's have an open conversation instead.

Cheers,
Mike
 
still dancing i think your message reads two sides to this story without you even knowing it lol
your message reads " be responsible for your actions "
but your signature reads the opposite, i know these signatures are computer generated from thousands and the person writing never sees the message but that just sounded daft
 
mbcracken said:
... I am currently interpreting as you are preaching to me rather then having a conversation. ...
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She did not reference you at all. If you want to have an open conversation, don't make it all about you.
 
There are some very useful parts in stilldancing's post, namely:

stilldancing_98 said:
there is a lot of traffic... in WA state. ...If you could kill yourself or somebody else with the seizures then make your decision based on that.
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When I lived in WA, it was one of the most congested areas of the country, traffic-wise, and that's definitely something to take into consideration, in my opinion. Your safety and the safety of others is, in my opinion, the paramount concern, regardless of anything the government may or may not have to say about it. If it's a safety issue, my personal advice would be not to drive with the understanding that if you do drive and you have a seizure behind the wheel and cause an accident that harms yourself or another, it will no longer be your choice and the government will most likely be the one to make the decision for you at that point.
 
I used to live in PA and at the time did not think the time (6 months) was fair. I did not get my license until I was 24, and my daughter was a year old. By that time, I was so nervous, but needed to get the license because I was so sick of having to get a ride from someone else. Nobody really minded giving me rides, but I just hate the waiting and the having to depend on other people.

I still have my license, but never drive, since I am in NYC, which has kick a$$ public transportation. We still have a car, but we only use it when we visit family in PA. Ironic.
 
NYC Mom said:
I used to live in PA and at the time did not think the time (6 months) was fair. I did not get my license until I was 24, and my daughter was a year old. By that time, I was so nervous, but needed to get the license because I was so sick of having to get a ride from someone else. Nobody really minded giving me rides, but I just hate the waiting and the having to depend on other people.

I still have my license, but never drive, since I am in NYC, which has kick a$$ public transportation. We still have a car, but we only use it when we visit family in PA. Ironic.
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I am so sorry for offending anybody. That was not my intent. As NYC Mom said, we have some kick a$$ public transportation in WA state to. But we did not always. I have a lot of different kinds of seizures, it would be my fault to try and get a liscence now, I know I would hurt somebody, but others can. I have to be responsible for me. And my son, who knows what his will be like when he is 16. He is also delayed. Seizures are more distracting than cell phones while driving and WA just outlawed cell phones while we are driving. lol joking
 
i had a clean driving record and was a conservative driver. but my seizures are very un-predictable and i cant count on my partials (auras) as any sort of consistent indicator.

i do not want to be driving a car with my wife and 2 children and get into an accident and god forbid killing them or anther person or family on the road because of this. thats why i don't drive.

i happen to be very fortunate that i live in the burbs but also live on a very good transit route to the city where i work.
 
do the driving laws apply to all types of seizures?

what if someone only has simple and complex partials? I zone out....but have never lost consciousness.

do the same laws apply?
 
I know everywhere I've lived it hasn't mattered what kind of seizures someone has.

I have to agree with that. All I do is zone out too but I wouldn't want to be driving while I zone out.
 
Complex partials count. They are "altered consciousness"

I don't think SP's count. Just the ones where the lights are on, but nobody is home....
(TC's, CP's, absence)
 
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do you really want to be behind a wheel on a highway doing 100 while you 'zone out'? i wouldnt.
 
I believe in Maryland the law is 3 months seizure free before you can drive again. I think that seems short if you're going to use the "seizure free" type of laws that we have in place, but think the case by case way would be better- your neuro and you know your history better than the DMV's office... I personally choose not to drive, I think it's too dangerous- I don't want to risk *anyone's* safety. Also, some people mentioned people having mental illness being more of a threat than people with E, and I don't quite see it that way. I think they're two different kinds of conditions and should be evaluated differently. Most people with mental illness are just trying to achieve a sense of stability similar to people with E trying to achieve that stability in a seizure free life. Both want "normal"(if there is such a thing) lives. :twocents:
 
Mike, I couldn't have said it better myself! I agree. If you want to not drive, then don't. You don't need the DMV to do that for you. My medical history is none of their business unless I choose to make it theirs. Remember that song, "I'm a Big Kid Now"? I'm certainly able to decide driving issues for myself. And if I choose to drive then OK, and if I choose to stop then OK, too. You don't have to have your license taken by the state. We're all "Big Kids" now, aren't we?
 
Here in Ireland you have to be seizure free for a year.
Which I think is sensible,in that time you would have 2 check ups.
 
Here's a question for you guys. What if you hold a licence in one state and drive there but travel into another state where the laws are different? Which ones do you go by?
 
Chatter-box said:
Here's a question for you guys. What if you hold a licence in one state and drive there but travel into another state where the laws are different? Which ones do you go by?
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I believe, legally, you go by the laws of the state that issued your driver's license.

Personally, however, I would choose to go by the laws of the state I was in if they were stricter. For instance, I am licensed in WA State, whose laws are not nearly as strict as Oklahoma. Because states are getting much better about sharing information about license restrictions and such due to drunk driving laws, while not required by any means, a good rule of thumb is to obey the laws of the state whose laws are stricter.
 
Inaara said:
I believe, legally, you go by the laws of the state that issued your driver's license.

Personally, however, I would choose to go by the laws of the state I was in if they were stricter. For instance, I am licensed in WA State, whose laws are not nearly as strict as Oklahoma. Because states are getting much better about sharing information about license restrictions and such due to drunk driving laws, while not required by any means, a good rule of thumb is to obey the laws of the state whose laws are stricter.
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I wonder why they're not all the same. I suppose that makes it more complicated for us.
 
It has to do with the politics in each state and the fact that the United States is a republic of "independent" states. That's not how we operate as a nation, but it is how the laws are set up.
 
thats what makes me laugh about the states its called the united states but if that was true surely they would be united in how they deal with such things instead of somethings being legal in one state and ten miles down the road its against the law
 
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