More of a Wwyd - friends son with epilepsy

Only tonic clonic seizures to be fair. He might be having focal or partial. Irrespective, just report it to the DVLA and the police.

Are people on here mad?? Have you ever seen someone having a seizure. I'm a doctor (GP now retired) but did a lot of neurology over the years. The person having the seizure goes rigid then falls over the steering wheel and the instructor just controls the car. I've seen some mad things on here but this is one of the worst.
He should not be behind the wheel of a car full stop

It is if he continues lessons, gets a licence, has a seizure and kills someome.

Send her this link they guy had an epileptic fit and killed his son
yes there was also drugs but ultimately it was the fit that caused the accident and killed his 14 year old son
www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gq7de358go.amp

Coming back in after the awful news piece about the 14-yr old and his epileptic dad. That 14-yr old tried to control the van by using the wheel. He tailed and, to quote the judge, ‘died in terror’.

You really need to report this. You presumably know your friend’s address and her son’s name. You therefore have enough information for the DVLA and police.

Either ring 101 or use the webchat. DVLA also have an online report function. Use them. TONIGHT.

Really though? “The instructor has a brake and steering wheel so it’s fine.”

yeah sure, ok. The instructor has some but not all, control over the car so it’s absolutely bloody fine to risk the instructors life and the life of every pedestrian and driver in proximity of the car being driven by a person who is a known and high risk of losing control of the weapon they are learning to control……

yep, yeah, absolutely. Completely fine.

OP, stop wasting time, effort and energy having panic attacks and trying to talk sense into your friend who is clearly incredibly selfish and has no concept of doing what’s right and considerate. Report it to the DVLA, it’s easy to do and once it’s done it’s done,

Please report this! My partner has epilepsy so I understand the frustrations especially when I only started driving recently so we had to use public transport... I hate driving but I couldn't imagine lying to get him to drive, I'm completely disgusted at the mother for putting others in such danger, he's at least young and stupid (still no excuse). I can't believe people are actually defending this, trying to keep a person safe during a seizure is hard enough without having to control a car!

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Yeah……I’m really sure the driving instructor is aware and I’m sure that all driving instructors have the authority to allow people to illegally drive based on their own “risk assessments”.

Who cares what the DVLA, the Law the doctors and Neurologists have to say on the matter? At the end of the day it’s the driving instructor’s personal assessment that determines whether someone is medically fit to drive despite having no access to that person’s health records 🤣

Who knew the laws around fitness to drive could be so flexible and open to personal interpretation 🤣

They can reach the wheel. You having panic attacks about it is OTT though. Just report it.

I can tell you now no driving instructor would carry on with this and they would be reported to the dvla and the other local driving instructors so he would never find another locally

I would very much doubt the driving instructors insurance would cover them for a trainee with epilepsy who had not been seizure free for 12 months. The law seems very strict on that.

I’m aghast at some of these replies.

People with uncontrolled epilepsy are not allowed to learn to drive.

He has LIED to the DVLA in order to obtain a licence so he can learn to drive against the law.

There is no way on earth that the driving instructor knows the truth about his health.

I would be ringing the DVLA immediately.

When I had my driving lessons my instructor was very reassuring that he could break quickly and grab the steering wheel again quickly if needs be. The instructors are trained to react very quickly as that is their job, they are in a car with people who can't drive and could easily make mistakes.You have made your feelings known. Hopefully he has made his instructor aware of his epilepsy and he has done a risk assessment with that information.

My neighbour’s first seizure was whilst driving, the car immediately mounted the verge and flipped through a fence/hedge. He and his wife were very lucky to survive.

In that instance there were no actions anyone could have taken that were quick enough to have stopped the accident.

Driving with uncontrolled epilepsy is a really stupid and dangerous thing to do.

This thread has really hit a nerve with me. Those saying the instructor has duel controls so its ok? Seriously think about this and whatever you are on stop taking it! I cannot believe in 1 thread there are so many that a) do not know the law and B) have so little regard for other peoples safety. This is ILLEGAL the instructor will not know about this, his life is at risk every time he gets in the car with this lad and the job is risky enough without this. Duel controls are a tool instructors use but are not a sure fire way to keep safe. As the wife of an ADI I have the luxury of knowing what I am talking about unlike some on this thread.

OP in the name of everything holy please report this, its a tragedy waiting to happen! Don't feel guilty about doing it, he has no right to be on the road and the instructor needs to know. Sorry but I would be happy to lose this friend.

It’s all very well saying the instructor can take control of the car, but the instructor doesn’t know the kid has epilepsy so it’s going to take a moment for them to realise what’s going on. They’re also likely to be panicking about how to deal with a medical emergency as well as how to deal with the car. It’s really out of order to put the poor instructor in this position.

@Babs1937 that is such an awful story

Have you seen the news today where the young boy killed on the M6 was trying to steer the car as his father had a seizure.
The 14 year old boy died and the father has gone to prison for ten years.

I would honestly have to end a friendship over this. Can you imagine if he runs someone over and you could have stopped it?

Ask for a recommendation for the driving instructor, call them up and tell them. This is an absolute nightmare waiting to happen and I'd feel so terribly guilty if I continued to ignore it. She is being both selfish and stupid.

No the instructor won't due to the rigid convulsions...ie the arms are locked straight with the hands gripping the wheel which the instructor has not a hope of releasing.

What an absolutely stupid comment do you know what duel controls can and can't do? No clearly not

Report to the driving instructor and let him/her deal with it. My husband is a driving instructor and I swear I would swing for anyone who knowingly put him in danger. It's a difficult one but by acting now you could save a life or 2

If you don't know the driving instructor can you tell the local test centre, as I assume he will be booked in for a test.

If instructor or driving test examiner doesn't know he has epilepsy that would be a serious problem.

Yes please report to the dvla.

My ds has a medical license and mobility car (physical disability) and as much as medical licenses are a PITA and take forrreeeevvvverrrrr to sort they are there for a reason.

My ds saw his consultant this morning who had been asked for information for his renewal (expired a few days ago) as he has a degenerative condition and she spent a good 1/2 of the consult completing the form with him and going through everything.

Yes, it means currently I’m driving my adult ds everywhere in his car adapted for him to drive. But that’s life with a disability. It sucks but you can’t risk others lives to make yours more bearable.