I know this subject has been discussed before, but I couldn't find it on a site search so please forgive me.
A very close relative in her seventies was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease last year, and unsurprisingly has been in denial about her deteriorating condition ever since. Whilst still able to walk with the aid of a stick she has fallen several times and is very unsteady on her feet.
Disturbingly, of late she has been known to be very economical with the truth regarding hospital appointments, seeing medical staff, getting extra help such as wheelchairs etc..
A complicating factor in all this is we live 150 miles away, so contact is limited to phone calls and the odd trip at various intervals to see her.
She still drives her small car which is a lifeline to her and when pressed claims to have told her insurance company about it whom she said, "said it was ok to drive". It sounds unlikely to me. To our knowledge she has not filled in any extra forms, been re-assessed etc., nor paid any extra premium.
We are now pressing her to inform DVLA which we know she is required to do by law (as specified in Form D100) but she has come up with more excuses like "I've tried to ring and they're always busy."
Last week she scraped the car on a wall (not the first time)and passed it off by saying, "Well, we all do that sort of thing". Our worries are that she is NOT fit to drive and eventually will hurt herself and very worryingly, some innocent third party.
So the question is, how do we tackle this issue ?
Concise advice welcomed. Thank you.
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Probably the easiest way out of this is for her to get an appointment with her gp.Once he is aware of the possibility of her being usafe to drive,by law he IS required to inform the DVLA, even if she may not do so/or may not want to so.
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I couldn't find it on a site search
The Site search facility doesn't search the forum. You need to use the Forum search, which is located where you log in/out.
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I think the threads in the past have been more regarding aged parents whose eyesight or reaction times are failing.
It is a very emotive subject when the car is their lifeline but you have to take responsibility before some one is killed or injured .I believe the only way that you can do this is to talk to the GP who is fully aware of all the medial history and take their advice.
My ( now deceased ) father in law had a couple of accidents when in his eighties and he consulted his GP after the second one before taking to the road again.
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Bob, if you phone her GP, you'll find that he can't tell you anything about her condition (patient confidentiality) ... but he can listen to what you have to say. If you can explain why you are worried, I'm sure he'd know what steps to take -- although all he should say to you is something non-committal like "thanks for telling me that".
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The advantage here of notification to DVLA is that a formal assessment of driving could then be arranged. This might reveal that your relative is safe to drive or that with certain mods. to the car could be made safe. Having MND does not automatically render her unfit to drive as something like dememntia might.
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Thanks for advice so far.
DoctorChris - a major problem is she still has all her "marbles" but is physically very frail and weak. eg She has an automatic but has to use two hands to even move the drive selector. I am fairly certain she could not hit the brake either quickly enough or with enough force in an emergency. As I said, she's in denial and claims that her own GP says she's "doing very well" although it's plain to us each time we see her she's deteriorated a little further. I realise this isn't a medical/MND talking shop but if she realised I/we'd shopped her to DVLA she'd never speak to us again.
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Bob, I posed one of the original threads on this question, and like you failed to find it by searching the forum. I had asked an almost identical question to you, concerning my mother, and if you can find the thread it produced some very sensible and helpful responses.
In my case events intervened before I had actually decided to do anything, and she made the decision herself to give up driving.
I certainly wouldn't rush into action. The concensus seemed to favour introducing the topic of driving competence in a gentle, general sort of way into family conversation, and then allowing the person to reflect and ponder and then, in my case, quite quickly come to a sensible decision.
I think that was quite important. Often people know inside what they ought to do, but need a little bit of jogging so that they can then feel they have themselves come to the decision, not been pressured into it by relatives or friends. Emphasise how much easier (and cheaper!) it is to call taxis rather than run a car. Or to shop on the internet rather than queuing at Tesco.
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Click on "Forum Search"
Enter;
Author= cliff
message body= dvla
8 results, one of which was;
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=18073&...f
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Thanks Mark (& Cliff) - found it myself by entering Cliff Pope and "Mother".
many thanks to all for advice.
Bob
I read frequently
I post very rarely.
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Bob
At the risk of being 'wrong' again, I found out that having an illness thayt may affect your driving but still being fit to drive should not affect your insurance premium.
Apparently the insurance companies are not allowed to load premiums for medical reasons. That is why my late mother's policies were so reasonably priced. However if she were unfit to drive she would have her license suspended and be unable to drive anyway.
I may be corrected though.
Hugo
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I agree with the sensitive replies above, but last week I was driving a HGV round a one way industrial estate in Swindon and round a blind corner the wrong way came a little old lady in her car looking lost. I don't need to point out what might have happened, although I do make allowances for inexperienced drivers, if you've got no chance... I have to say if it was a member of my family who was loosing their ability to control a car properly then I would go to any lengths to stop them driving, even informing DVLA behind their back. I'm sure you can persuade her to see sense. It's probably not as bad if she's just pootling round a quiet village somewhere but out on the open road the consequences could live with you.
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If she's doing less than about 5000 miles a year (likely for a Little old lady?) try pointing out that taxis are reckoned to be cheaper for that sort of mileage anyway.
HTH,
V
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I am afraid that I am not sensitive about this issue. She should not be driving.
Imagine your wife or family being involved in an accident and injured, caused by someone that is unable to control their vehicle due to ageing.
Whatever action you take to have her licence removed is justified.
I was aware of a local 90+ woman that used to drive and we all said 'isn't she marvelous' Until she had her accident! and then we all then learned about some of her previous incidents and realised that we hadn't done her any favours by allowing to continue.
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She should see her GP so that a medical assessment can be carried out. A driving assessment is the next step. In the case of Motor Neurone Disease, the sufferer can continue to drive as long as the condition is not affecting his/her driving.
If she is driving dangerously and the GP finds out, the GP should ask the patient to contact the DVLA. If the patient refuses then the GP has to make a judgement about medical confidentiality. If the patient is dangerous on the road, the GP will have to weigh up the case for public safety against the the case for the patient's medical confidentiality. For example, he would have to break confidentiality if the driver is dangerous and in charge of a vehicle that could put others at great risk e.g. coach/HGV.
If the insurers aren't notified they may refuse to pay out, especially if the person continued to drive knowing that he/she has an obligation to let the DVLA know about serious medical conditions. and they chose not to.
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