How quickly do the DVLA act on concerns about unfit drivers?

Can't you spend afternoon with a pal and your husband drive over and remove battery /hide keys...

I just wouldn't wait for baby to arrive....

Can a neighbour so the dirty with the tyres??

Hope you're fitter soon

Do you have power of attorney to be making such decisions? I'd be very wary about taking her keys etc as she could report a theft. I reported someone who was driving who was having seizures multiple times a week who drove every single day to her work in a school!!! Took 8 months before they even bothered to do anything about it. By which time her seizures miraculously stopped. It really does take a while unfortunately. It's awful as you and your family feel responsible if something happens. I totally get it. It's so difficult, but you are right, you can only do so much and you have a wee one to consider.

When she was in hospital and assessed by the team prior to discharge (including OT/physio/the doctors) they will have asked about driving. It’s quite possible she WAS told not to drive (and the onus is then on the patient to self report to the DVLA).

My late FILs consultant informed the DVLA when he was diagnosed with dementia, and they contacted him to tell him he could no longer drive.

We’d already taken his keys off him about 6 months before that, and eventually driven the car away from his house and parked it outside ours.

It may well be a fight if she’s hidden them/won’t give them up, but it’s a fight absolutely worth having if she’s risking herself and others.

The court finally took away my late FILs driving licence when he was both fined and prosecuted for driving offences. Even then he still tried to get his licence back but it never happened thankfully.

Unfortunately the medical dept at DVLA was massively scaled back during covid, and it's still struggling. I had to surrender my licence, as I'd had notifiable surgery. Getting it back was a nightmare, and they had around a 2 year backlog. I know it's extreme, but a ding is an accident, could you report her to the police? Sounds like a shock, may help the situation. I really didn't want to give up my licence, and it was a massive inconvenience....but, it was the right thing to do, and the fines and levels of prosecution, if I was involved in an accident go up.

It’s a very slow process. They will probably ask the GP for a report. (I deal with these in a surgery). I would estimate three months at the very least. You are also reliant on the GP knowing the situation as the problems you state will probably not be recorded in her medical records.

I know what sleep apnoea is but never heard of the other 2 conditions so googled them...my goodness, with those symptoms I'm surprised she has any energy to move let alone drive a car...how on earth does she manoeuvre round a supermarket?

My experience relates to a family member who's had strokes and heart attacks but insisted he was safe to drive until a doc from the stroke ward said 'no driving'. License taken away. He has done everything to try and get licence back, contacted dvla daily (literally) and nagged them into taking a driving test. This took dvla at least 6 months to respond. Fortunately he failed the test, so no licence but he still harasses the dvla daily. His poor wife. 😢

Friend of mine was contacted by dvla to say her licence had been revoked because of reports of her driving...she never found out who reported her nor how long it took for dvla to respond to the requests. It took over a year for her to get her licence back.

Sounds like you've exhausted all external agencies to help your MIL. Personally I'd take a step back now, you've done all you can to help her so time to concentrate on you and the arrival of your baby!

My mum had an accident just before Xmas. No one was hurt thankfully. A think a witness reported her as unfit to drive to the police. The police sent her a letter saying she could go to court or do a driving assessment. She failed it twice on serious issues. It has taken 6 months to have her licence removed but luckily she didn't drive since the accident because it took ages to repair her car, then she failed the first assessment, had some lessons, then failed the second one.

I'm sorry, OP, that you are having such a tough time while already having a difficult pregnancy.

I noticed the mention of double vision. I had one episode of double vision last year which was investigated by orthoptics department at local hospital. They were very firm with me that I must not drive when experiencing double vision - so if this is an ongoing problem with your MIL, then that alone would mean that she should not be driving.

As the neighbour has also attempted to have action taken, perhaps they would contact the Police locally for advice. Ideally, if the Police know when she's driving they could stop her.

Next time you see her get in the car, call the police. It is a police matter.

I reported a neighbour in September… she is still driving.

She was reported by another neighbour shortly after, and most recently (May/june) by the local councillor.

Nothing has made a difference.

I don’t know if the DVLA wrote to her to tell her to go to the GP, but I told them there is a thigh high stack of post in her porch and she would not open any letter.

She is mentally unwell, a gambling addict and a hoarder. She has had multiple reports to the county council re safeguarding, adult welfare and antisocial behaviour. I asked for help from the local MP. I reported her to the community police officer… who turned up when I said she would not be in, knocked on the door and left inside 30 seconds.

But she refuses to engage with any intervention or offers of help so apparently she can just carry on! Ironically she is a delivery driver.

Myself and many other locals have witnessed her dreadful driving which will almost certainly cause an accident at some point.

When, and it is a when, not if, she causes an accident, we will be shouting it from the rooftops as to exactly who was informed and when, and I hope they throw the book at them.

Months and months, if they do anything at all.

Does she have a “reportable condition “ for example Parkinson’s? There is a a list on the gov website. Or any of her medications say she shouldn’t drive. Has she seen someone like hospital or opticians about her double vision.

999. As the crime is in progress.

If you call 101 they'll patch you through to 999 anyway, but you'll have lost valuable time.

I'd set up Uber (if this would work) or else arrange lifts for her, to avoid this issue.
Had the same thing with an older relative, but as soon as we made it clear we'd help him so he never had to worry about getting anywhere, he was fine about selling his car-we helped arrange it all for him.
He was so scared at the though of losing his independence and being lonely, so if you reassure them that you're going to make sure they get to go on every trip they want, they're usually fine. Not easy for us working parents, but it's the only way to make sure they're ok.

As one of the targets of your ire, I agree with PP that you have been rude.

Realistically, all the DVLA can do is write to the person and ask them to confirm that they are fit to drive, request that they attend a medical / eye test or say that they are revoking their licence,

but if the person doesn't accept that decision there is nothing to physically stop them driving unless or until it gets picked up by a passing police car when they are out - hopefully not after they've been involved in an accident.

The only practical way you can ensure that they are no longer on the road if they don't agree is to prevent them having access to a vehicle - as others have suggested, removing the keys or disconnecting the battery would be the easiest options.

Trying to help her was always a waste of time and effort because she is selfish to a fault. In addition she likely sees you two as right fools, these types see kindness as weakness.

I would Inform the police community officers today about her repeated intentions to drive to Tescos next week. And the battery from her car needs to be removed.