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

[tomorrowisanotherdate]

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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)

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.

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!

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

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.

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

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

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

Or I’d cycle, if my health allowed.

Fine. We don't have a car. A lot of people don't.
We bike, walk and use public transportation.

Now and then rents a car for a day out - but no harm done if not possible.

We mainly use or bikes for leisure so not in the main traffic going to the supermarket which I wouldn't want to do, rain or shine

I'd have to give up work (essential car user), sell my house and move.

We have a half-hourly bus service into town, but it doesn't start until 9.15 and the last one home is around 5.45. I live at the top of a big hill, and have arthritis, so there's no way I could walk the 3 miles into town, or to the station, and back. Because it's a small town with a very limited range of shops, I often have to travel to a bigger town even for quite basic things, like underwear or skincare, so two buses or bus and train by public transport.

I also have to see clients in a predominantly rural county and appointments can be 50 miles away. Some of my tribunals are in the next county but one. The 70 mile train journey is 90 minutes minimum, not including getting to/from the station, because all the trains stop at every tiny station in between (usually a bit over an hour by car). I only work 6 hours max per day, so the train ride alone would be half my day gone.

Really, are you so obtuse you can't see that a bike is neither possible for everyone, nor possible for every journey, nor practical or enjoyable for many journeys.
Who wants to arrive at a wedding having cycled 15miles to get there in all their finery ?

That would be unsafe for me to get to work if it was dark or other poor driving conditions.

Yup same here! Dr said maybe it was an ear infection that had gone away 🤦🏼‍♀️ gave me anti dizziness and sickness tablets
Same as you, googled and sorted it myself