More of a Wwyd - friends son with epilepsy

[raspberryberet7]

My friends 17 yr old son has epilepsy and has it bad. For conte t he has had more than 8 seizures this year so far. He’s not supposed to drive until he is one year seizures free however he is continuing to have lessons. I’ve begged her not to let him as he is putting not only himself at danger but everyone else in the vicinity but she just won’t listen. She says he just wants to pass his test then he will stop. I really don’t know what to do it’s so dangerous

Report, he’s not insured if he has an accident.

btw 8 seizures this year isn’t bad. 8 a day is bad, dsd has a dozen a day often

The instructor is unlikely to be able to gain sufficient control just from leaning over an adult man who is in the middle of a seizure, potentially thrashing around, and grabbing the wheel. Sure, if they're in the middle of practising a three-point-turn. But not if, for instance, they're doing 60 on a dual carriageway, which they could easily be doing during a lesson.

This definitely does need reporting. When people say 'I reported this and nothing happened' it's usually because the condition is one that doesn't have a set rule - for example, I have a relative who drove for a long time with Parkinson's disease - very erratically in the later stages and definitely not safely - but the DVLA would have done nothing about it because there's no clear rule on driving with that condition and his consultant just said 'If you feel you're OK to drive, I'm happy to write a letter saying you can drive'. Epilepsy does have a set rule, so is a bit easier to enforce.

Yeah I can and yeah I have - many many times. Close family - driving, fallen down and smacking head and had a brain bleed, in a pool and went under so your can take your judgement and hold onto it thanks.

i also said the post was about the equipment in the car and agree he was breaking the law.

What a crappy thing to write.

I have close relative with epilepsy.
To even get a provisional licence (ie to get behind wheel as learner) you have to demonstrate at least one year seizure free and provide details of GP & neurologist to DVLA.
I assume either this lad lied on his provisional application form, or the situation has changed since then.
Either way HE SHOULD NOT BE DRIVING. Including learning to drive!
Please please contact DVLA. Personally - having seen seizures up close- I would also contact police.
This is incredibly dangerous.
I am just dumbstruck your friend is allowing this. Amazing irresponsibility if the facts are correct.

I'm so invested in this thread as my previous posts I have said my dh is an ADI but I also have epilepsy, fortunately controlled now for 30+ years and my seizures did not affect my conciousness. Even so I wasnt allowed to drive and despite it being so long ago I still remember how horrible it was to lose my licence. Every time I get in the car I am thankful to be where I am now, a driving licence is a privilege not a right and this entitlement and ignorance just boils my blood. I hope you find some control soon, it can take time and some adjusting of meds but it can be done.

Thank you ❤️ I'm glad to hear yours is under control and you have your licence back, I always feel more hope reading people's experiences like this. Just started another medication increase so 🤞🤞🤞

It’s unfortunate. But he really oughtnt be driving. My DS had to stop driving bc of a single grand mal. He got onto it straight away. Meds sorted him, and he had to wait a year (more however bc the system to get your license back is such a mess). It was a huge blow to him but he completely manned up and took responsibility. I’m afraid your friend’s son (and friend) must do the same

L’épilepsie touche plus de familles qu’on ne le pense souvent. Envoyant de la force et du soutien à tous.

I don’t think I have ever read anything so fucking stupid 🤣

This thread belongs in the Classics section….not because of the topic but because of the absolutely ridiculous and dumb responses that some posters are giving.

The stupidity and ignorance is laughable.

I never knew when I was going to have a seizure, I would sometimes have a seizure whilst talking to someone. Very unpredictable and also dangerous.

I’m an old person and I thought I’d seen a fair bit of the best and worse of people but have learned such a lot more about people since I’ve been visiting Mumsnet.

Some of the comments on this thread really do take the biscuit. As a previous poster said this is a classic, not for the original question but for the sheer irrationality of some of the posts/posters.

If something is illegal, it’s illegal, it’s illegal for a purpose. We’re not talking about a pinch of weed or not paying your vehicle tax; this is potentially life threatening to the learner, the instructor and any other poor person who might get in the way of an out or control car. Posters have explained that some forms of epilepsy could cause the driver’s hands to lock on the steering wheel (= instructor can’t steer), thrash their arms around (= potentially knocking instructor out). We don’t even know if the learner is learning on a dual control vehicle; not everyone does.

The learner has lied to the DVLA to get a provisional license; heaven alone knows where that leaves the instructor and his insurance.

Apart from the fact that this is illegal some posters seem to think it’s OK. They are talking out of the backs of their necks or, actually, two foot further south. How would they feel if they were in OP’s position and discovered her friend’s son had had a seizure and killed themselves, the instructor and the queue of people at a bus stop ?

I really am appalled. Good on you OP for being pro-active. I hope you manage this without losing her as a friend but if she was my friend I would be viewing her in a very different light now.

Which part of the young man having no lawful way of driving a motor vehicle on public roads is difficult to understand?

theres No excuse for this. It’s unfair on the instructor for a start (insurance implications) and if anything was to happen on a lesson not only would obviously everyone around be at risk, but insurance potentially wouldn’t pay out.

Right now this lad thinks it’s fine to take the risk, but it won’t stop. Say he passes his test and then what? He’s on the road - ALONE. Of course he’s not going to stop once he passes his test!

someone needs to raise the alarm. Better now, for him to get the seizures under control, than get a ban just after he passed and then loses on the road experience

@GeniuneWorkOfFart you can tell their GP, anonymously if you like. They will act.

I've got no idea who their GP is though. This person is the older sibling of one of my young adult DC's friends. I know their name and the village they live in. I know they've been having seizures that haven't yet been diagnosed or explained for over a year. I know they still drive. But I've no idea of their exact address or date of birth or driving license number or their GP! I did do an online report with the info I have, but got a reply the next day saying it couldn't be taken further as I hadn't supplied all the necessary info.

Fortunately my DC has the sense not to accept a lift from them but they regularly drive a car full of young adults around.

While I agree there are some peculiar remarks, driving if you have epilepsy isn't illegal per se. You need to be a year seizure-free (it might be different if you've got nocturnal seizures only). According to the OP, this isn't the case here, which would make it illegal. There's also, as an aside, lots of different types of epilepsy - it's largely an umbrella term - so you might not have the traditional unconsciousness, jerking at the limbs which is traditionally associated. Deja vu can be a seizure. And please don't call them fits! It's becoming increasingly offensive in the epilepsy community.

My post was based on the details from the OP, and in this case, it's illegal, hence my statement.

Additionally, I didn't use the word 'fits' so I'm not sure of the relevance of you quoting my post.

Focal seizures are not deja vu by themselves; they're accompanied by other symptoms and it's a very specific deja vu experience. I have focal seizures that present with deja vu; it would still be seriously dangerous for me to drive while having one and I'm still not allowed to drive until I'm a year clear of them.

You still have to tell the dvla and they decide if you can drive.

This thread is nuts. Some people really think it's safe for a driving instructor to use their controls and grab the steering wheel while the driver is having an epileptic seizure next to them. How quickly would they get control of the vehicle? 2 seconds? Longer? What could happen in those few seconds if, say, overtaking on a dual carriageway or driving past a school at 3.30?

I also wonder how this would affect the insurance?

Yes, I don't dispute that any type of seizure merits telling the DVLA and a ban.

Just a comment as I had seen the term fits used by other posters. It wasn't an attack on you, I'm sorry if you read it that way. Thanks

I'm sorry to hear that. Sounds tough.

So... with their foot on the brake, how do they lever the fitting person off the steering wheel and get past them to switch the car off/take hold of the steering wheel...

You realise a fitting person may be rigid, may lash out with arms and head and trying to keep a vehicle stationary, whilst it is in gear, with someone standing on the accelerator, by standing on the brake yourself could be quite difficult..

And the instructor would have to react with lightning speed when they don't actually have a CLUE what is going on as they don't know the lad has epilepsy.