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Original poster

How would you manage if you lost your driving licence tomorrow?

244 replies

tomorrowisanotherdate · 01/04/2024 21:26

For example, vertigo is a common one, I have had several friends develop vertigo and lose their license,

You cannot be insured to drive within 6 months of a vertigo attack, and both friends had attacks out of the blue in their early 40s - one only ever had one serious attack and had her license back in about a year - the other has never since gone 6 month between attacks, and has sold her car now

So suppose you have a vertigo attack out of the blue tonight, and can't drive for 6 months, starting now, how would that impact on your life?

Am I Being unreasonable to think lives should be planned around possibly being in this contingency, when choosing homes, jobs schools etc?

OP posts:
DownWithThisKindOfThing · 02/04/2024 13:59

Or I’d cycle, if my health allowed.

DownWithThisKindOfThing · 02/04/2024 13:58

It would be inconvenient, but I’d be OK. I’d use public transport or taxis.

BobnLen · 02/04/2024 13:57

Allfur · 02/04/2024 13:33

Whats money got to do with it? What about a bike

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We have loads of bikes, road bikes, Brompton bikes, trail bikes, etc. but I would rather pay for a taxi if it was wet

fieldsofbutterflies · 02/04/2024 13:56

Allfur · 02/04/2024 13:33

Whats money got to do with it? What about a bike

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Lots of people live in areas where bikes simply aren’t practical or safe. Sadly, those areas often coincide with non-existent public transport.

AhBiscuits · 02/04/2024 13:35

I've had sporadic vertigo attacks since August. I cycle to work. I've had one attack while cycling and was able to stop and sit down. I can feel them coming and have about 20 seconds warning. DH does the driving when it's necessary but we rarely use the car in the week. School is a 5 minute walk away, as is the supermarket.

Allfur · 02/04/2024 13:33

BobnLen · 02/04/2024 12:03

It's one of those things that if you have plenty of money it's always easier, the woman over the road just gets taxis everywhere as she doesn't drive, I don't think she would ever get the bus.

Whats money got to do with it? What about a bike

ManchesterLu · 02/04/2024 13:32

I'd be okay, but it'd be annoying. Me and DP both WFH, families are relatively local, we share hobbies. The only things I do on my own are shopping and things like that, but I could always order online, or DP could drive. It'd be a minor inconvenience for me, but nothing more. It'd be worse for DP, as I currently always drive when we go out because I don't drink - he would be miffed if that had to change, and I'd feel sorry for him because I still wouldn't drink even if I wasn't driving!

Kalevala · 02/04/2024 13:26

MikeRafone · 02/04/2024 11:45

Less than 25% of people live rurally, many jobs can be worked from home or a mixture so that helps.

retirment will bring its own issues with driving and being isolated

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I live in a town but my job is out of town with no public transport. It would require a two hour walk including along the boggy verge of a country road. I'd need to find another job if I couldn't get a lift.

Crunchymum · 02/04/2024 13:21

I've never had a drivers license, in fact I have never had so much as a lesson.

I am in my 40's now but live in central London and have never needed to drive.

(DP does drive but we don't currently own a car, we just hire one if we need to which we really don't that often)

AllLopsided · 02/04/2024 13:18

I'd have managed fine for the first 18 years of my adult life, since I lived in my University city, then London or the suburbs and didn't learn to drive till my mid-30s. Moving to my university city was a revelation in terms of independence because I grew up rural with very limited public transport and my mum (SAHM) didn't drive.

Now, however, my life is very different - I live a third of the way up a mountain (400m climb from the nearest big town) with no public transport, so would be completely reliant on DH to drive me. Obviously we made the choice to live here knowing we could both drive.

Boutonnière · 02/04/2024 12:43

The GP who tested me told me which side. Did the Epley manoeuvre not work for you ?

Original poster
tomorrowisanotherdate · 02/04/2024 12:23

Boutonnière · 02/04/2024 12:16

Being a sentient adult I did research it, did know in which direction to do it and was congratulated by my GP when I had to go for a skin cancer related appointment a few months later and mentioned I had done it.

You are being over dramatic about this - someone posted earlier about the NICE guidelines re BPPV. It’s very unpleasant, it is self treatable.

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how did you know which direction? Yes it is unpleasant, but is often not self treatable - I am not being over dramatic, I know how bad it can be, and you clearly don't. You had a mild case and were lucky enough that it only affected one side and you made a lucky guess as to which. Having been ambulanced to hospital with it twice, and admitted for emergency treatment, and having seen my fried tube fed for weeks, I can assure you you are speaking from a place of ignorance.

I hope for your sake yours remains mild

OP posts:
phoenixrosehere · 02/04/2024 12:22

I’m in Oxfordshire.

Don’t drive anyway, nursery is across the street from my son’s primary school, secondary less than a 5 minute walk from primary school. Nearest shop down the street (under 5 minute walk), M&S, Boots, Tesco Superstore under 15 minutes walk. Two train stations that can get me to London and Birmingham, can get to Reading, Bath, Bristol. Buses go as far as Cambridge, Milton Keynes, as well as there being Megabuses and a bus to Heathrow that is cheaper than taking a taxi. Plenty of local play parks, museums close by, movie theatre in the town centre 20 min walk away or can take the bus into town (can see the bus stop from my window) and be there in 10.

Abracadabra12345 · 02/04/2024 12:19

Dewdilly · 01/04/2024 21:54

It wouldn’t bother me. I wouldn’t notice. We don’t have a car as it is.

The same and we live somewhere with excellent public transport links, the reason we chose to move here. We go all around the country for trips away via train, bus and - very rarely - taxi

Boutonnière · 02/04/2024 12:16

tomorrowisanotherdate · 02/04/2024 11:49

Assessed as fit to drive. It isn't a short term condition, it might be a short term attack, but the tendency to vertigo is a long term condition. It is dangerous to do the epley manoeuvre without full information because if you do it in the wrong direction you can make the situation very much worse. A doctor should tell you which direction to perform it in

Show quote history

Being a sentient adult I did research it, did know in which direction to do it and was congratulated by my GP when I had to go for a skin cancer related appointment a few months later and mentioned I had done it.

You are being over dramatic about this - someone posted earlier about the NICE guidelines re BPPV. It’s very unpleasant, it is self treatable.

purpleleotard2 · 02/04/2024 12:05

I'm there at this time, just started a 6 month off driving as my defribulator shocked me.
Luckily we are very urban and most of my work can be done by bike. It has hit my partner most as she is disabled and I was the driver So now her world has closed in.
A very kind neighbour drives us to treatment every week and my son is driving us on a holiday in Spain (booked back in September).
It must be remembered that you are stopped driving as your medical condition makes you a danger to others, just think of going unconscious on the motorway.

BobnLen · 02/04/2024 12:03

It's one of those things that if you have plenty of money it's always easier, the woman over the road just gets taxis everywhere as she doesn't drive, I don't think she would ever get the bus.

Cuwins · 02/04/2024 12:02

I would have to give up my job as part of it is to transport the person I support. However it's only 2 days a week and my DP is the main earner so it wouldn't be the end of the world.
We live in an area with good public transport and a shop just about walkable. However it would limit my day to day activities with my daughter as lots of them aren't easily doable by public transport.

InfoComet · 02/04/2024 11:58

My husband already doesn't drive due to epilepsy. We'd manage day to day life, i.e. work and shopping but we'd both have to give up our hobbies.

GasPanic · 02/04/2024 11:57

I would get taxis.

A bit inconvenient and more expensive but better with the new apps.

They also start with a headstart of about £1k per year as you are not paying car maintenance, insurance, tax and mot fees.

Gunz · 02/04/2024 11:56

My SIL lost her licence as she had a 'fit' - took along while to get it back. Made me think - I live in semi rural area where you have to drive everywhere. GP was in the village and now has joined 3 others so you can have appointments over 15 miles away. Local bus does not run after 630 during the week and never on Sundays or BH. For that reason I am going to sell my house and move to a more urban area where I have access to transport, shops and facilities. Doing now in my early 60's as my parents left it too late.

Original poster
tomorrowisanotherdate · 02/04/2024 11:56

theteddybear · 02/04/2024 09:57

I had Labyrinthitis a few years ago which causes vertigo. Is that different because it's just an infection and will go away?

I was taken away in an ambulance from my house it was that bad! I cld not stop being sick or trying to be sick, whole body shaking and I cldnt stand etc.

I was never told I cldnt drive by any of the medical professionals I dealt with either at hospital or my gp thereafter. I mean obviously I cldnt drive while I felt like that but after a few days it was getting better. Within a week I was fine to drive and back to normal within 2 weeks. Never had any issues since.

I wfh so would have been ok. I don't live nearby family though 20-25min drive from both sides. Maybe dh wld have got permission to drop eldest at school in his work van. Otherwise I would have had to walk 1 mile to nursery with youngest then more than a mile in another direction to school and then walk another mile home. Then do it all again for pick ups. It wld have been a nightmare for me! Not to mention pretty much stuck without DH as we are over 2 miles from train station but maybe I'd have had to rely on lifts or buses on my days off.

I don't know, sorry - it is something that would have to be assessed, I don't know if labyrinthitis as a cause of vertigo means you don't get the 6 months ban, maybe it does. but again, medical staff are not going to tell you, you are expected to know the highway code and the law well enough to know you report it yourself.

OP posts:
RedPony1 · 02/04/2024 11:55

In all honesty, my life would be over! I couldn't get to work (no public transport) and i couldn't get to the horses (again, no public transport) i wouldnt be able to afford the taxi's needed.

if i cant work or see my horses twice daily, i don't want to be here so i dont know what i would do. I LOVE my life as it is, it's the main reason i never had children - i refuse to give up what i do.

Original poster
tomorrowisanotherdate · 02/04/2024 11:54

DonnaBanana · 02/04/2024 09:51

The key to BPPV is the B it is Benign, harmless. It just feels annoying but is not dangerous percy, so I wouldn’t be handing in my license over it

I think you are misunderstanding the word Benign. Of course it can make you unsafe to drive. It doesn't have to be harmful in itself t make you unsafe and uninsurable as a driver. It is not up to you whether you are legally driving or not - if you have had BPPV in the last 6 months, the chances are you are not driving legally.

If you lose your glasses, that is not life threatening, or anything other than inconvenient and expensive, but you may well not be legal to drive!

And yes it can be dangerous, as it can lead to deaths from dehydration, as well as the dangers of being totally incapacitated suddenly, in an unsafe place, such as crossing the road, or behind the wheel of a car.

OP posts:
NewName24 · 02/04/2024 11:52

Meadowfinch · 02/04/2024 04:17

Limiting your life on the off-chance that something may happen to prevent you driving seems a bit of a negative approach. My life for the last 40 years would have been much less rich and varied. If everyone chose to do that, many rural communities would die out.

I haven't had a job that didn't require a driving licence since I was a student. I suspect the same would be true of many people who live outside the major cities.

If people adopted your approach, no-one would ever train as an HGV driver, a PSV driver, a taxi driver. Food chains would fail. Society & the economy would be much poorer.

If I lost my licence tomorrow, ds would have to change schools or switch to weekly boarding. I could survive with my bike, or the hourly bus service or by walking into the nearest town three miles away but I'd lose my job and would retire, meaning the tax man would lose the £15k a year I him pay in tax and my company would lose my skills..

As a family we'd adapt. It wouldn't be the end of the world, but I wouldn't limit our lives until it happened.

Edited

Great post.

This is how I feel.
My (well 'our', as a family) life has very much been the better for the fact I have always driven. We would all have missed out on so many opportunities if I didn't drive / didn't have a car but if it came to a situation when I wasn't able to, then you would crack on with facing up to the new situation and getting on with your new life.
But it would have been ridiculous to miss out on the last 40 years of opportunities on the off chance that a statistically unlikely event might have happened.

@GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER
E.g like the time I needed to take 8 litres of homemade soup 60 miles, for the Gdcs’ school Christmas fair!

See, this is what I think about when people say they don't miss anything by not being able to drive. I am glad I am not the only one who thinks being able to drive isn't just about getting to work and back. For me, the ability to drive comes into its own for all the 'one off' things that happen, and for all the things we choose to do at the weekends, and in the evenings when public transport across most of the country becomes thinner on the ground, and when we need to transport things, or when we are on a round of errands that don't involve just going from A to B.