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

[redstaff]

I reported my MIL to the DVLA, she is not medically fit to drive. How long does the process start? I reported her 4 days ago.

She was in hospital with respiratory failure on Saturday hooked up to a breathing thing but has now been discharged. She has a lot of medical conditions and is barely mobile. She slurs when she talks and is on some pretty powerful meds (Gabepentin, Epilum and high dose anti depressants plus a load more - at least 9 prescriptions id say). She does not have epilepsy, she takes the meds for migraines.

She can barely get out of her chair at home nor step in her ensuite shower (because the 10cm step is too high) but she’s talking about driving again next week!!

I’m just wondering how quickly the DVLA act on these things? I’m really worried that she’s going to seriously injure or kill someone?

*Her neighbour also said MIL shouldn’t be driving and has reported to the DVLA as well.

Yeah definitely taxed and insured. Last year there was a problem with the car which took 6 months to repair - huge sigh that she wasn’t driving during that time.

I may phone the DVLA -I was really hoping they’d write to her and ask for her medical history/prescription list plus a recent eye test or even see her in person because if they took one look at her they’d deduce that she isn’t fit to drive.

At 25 stone that will need a few people to help prise someone out of a car.

She clearly has been offered support and refuses. What to do what she wants to do and sod everyone else.

I realise it is difficult but when my DF had dementia 30 years ago we took his car keys away and then took the car away. He thought the car was in the garage initially but as it didnt come back he got used to it not being there.

can you pretend it needs to go to the garage? Maybe cause a pretend oil leak or something?

That’s exactly how it is. It’s a ‘sod everyone else’ attitude. Completely lacks any accountability. And whenever we say she shouldn’t be driving she flips out.

Her weight is mostly carried in her legs from the water retention (they’re huge)- she told us she weighs 25 stone. Tbh I’d maybe put her more at 20-21!stone. I saw her weigh herself at 18 stone and she has gained weight since then. This probably isn’t relevant but thought id mention it 🫠

I think she needs social services as it doesn’t sound like she can care for herself.

I haven't been proactive in my case because as I said, there's no car to drive, and I suspect that the person who I reported has been very slow at sending things back which is part of the reason it's been so long but I think it takes an age whatever you do.

Also, don't think the DVLA can take your word for it. You might be doing it for the wrong reasons so they have to check with GP and then make a decision.
I think you have to do something with the car or keys.

I do agree with this. With her latest hospital stint I told the hospital she wasn’t safe to discharge. The hospital offered her a -

Home Assessment with OT
Care support package
Pendant thing for her falls
NIV breathing mask for sleep apnea which will help with her drowsiness
SALT team assessment
Dental referral

She declined them all.

I have contacted adult SS and environmental health. She will refuse everything.

Took a year and three reports from two people to get my neighbour tested and flunked. She still lies that she passed but no longer drives.

Wouldn't it be a shame if MILs car keys went missing at home while she was recuperating....

That's the timescale we are headed to too. Whole system is a shambles to be honest. You can't rely on the DVLA, you have to act yourself if you can.

In my experience they take absolutely ages. We had it recently with my FIL. My DH rang the DVLA, the GP wrote to them too, but it was months before they officially revoked his license.

I remember they asked my DH to write a letter to them, we were baffled as we had numerous phone calls, you can log complaints online but due to our lack of printer, he had to hand write a long letter to the DVLA out lining his medical history - it was a faff.

Well if you cant get hold of her keys, perhaps the tyres could go flat, all four of them.

This is probably our best bet!!

So let the tyres down. Disconnect the battery. Attach a steering wheel lock. This isn’t rocket science.

Weeks in my case.

My experience is, unfortunately, that the DVLA can be very slow to act.

Last August we notified them, as we were required to do, that my DH had just been diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease. At Christmas we got an acknowledgement of our report but nothing else.

In March this year my DH died. He'd been getting worse for weeks and hadn't driven for a long time anyway. It was after his death, and after we had also used the Tell Us Once service to inform all government departments that the DVLA, in their wisdom, informed us that they were writing to his neurology consultant for advice on whether or not he could be considered medically fit to drive!! They did this two or three more times too.

My eldest daughter eventually phoned them, pointed out the Tell Us Once notification (which they already had, they had even cancelled his licence too) and suggested that they drop it.

So, I have to say, I have very little faith that you will get what you need from the DVLA. Not for a pretty long time anyway.

You'll have to take your MIL's keys from her, or disconnect the battery.

We live an HOUR away! I have been in hospital myself for the last week with pregnancy related issues! My husband is terrified to leave me!

We are dealing with a very challenging situation - we can’t just ‘pop’ round to let tyres down. As I’ve said in multiple posts, I’m relying on external services here.

Please dont respond if you’re not prepared to be kind and understanding

And if your MIL runs over and kills someone else’s baby in the meantime? Others have already explained how slowly the state’s bureaucracy works here; for the sake of the safety of others, you’re going to have to be proactive, even if that means your husband leaving you alone for a couple of hours.

thank you to those that have given their experiences of the DVLA process - this is what I wanted to hear.

as for the rude poster who said it’s not rocket science to take keys and for those that think it’s an easy solution. It isn’t so stop it please! It’s fucking annoying.

I have had a very bad pregnancy bleed and have been hospitalised TWICE. If I bleed out my baby could die! I have to be home resting and I need my husband by my side to act quickly should something happen to me and our unborn baby. MIL lives an hour away - so going round to have a battle to take keys, sabotage her car etc really is not an option.

We need external help - that is what I am looking for.

Rude poster? Several PP have made exactly the same argument.

“Please don’t respond if you aren’t going to be kind and caring”

lol the irony.

Indeed 😂

There isn't external help. No one else can go and take keys or let down tyres or do connect batteries. Your DH could leave you in the company of a friend or relative who can support you for a few hours and take you to hospital if you need it. Or you pay for a carer to come and sit with you for the time it takes him.

DVLA are a slow moving government agency. They cannot manage this as an urgent process.

You can contact her GP and tell them about both the state of the house and the driving concerns.

I'd also suggest you report the same issues to police via the 101 online service for her area and give them the number plate and her details as well as describing the squalor.

You could also contact her car insurance company if you know them and raise the issues of her health with them.

You need to speak to social services about the state of the house and the MH of both occupants. Plus their inability to keep themselves healthy, resulting in her most recent hospital trip - your other thread I think said she'd been very unwell for days and her other son didn't recognise it as an issue?

Also if it's a hoarding situation, please speak to the fire service for her area - they can make checks and look to manage the risks if they are called their in future.

If, after all is said and done they both wish to live in their own faeces and cannot be stopped driving, at least you'll both know you've done all you can.

That’s not what happened in my experience.

I reported someone, they were also reported by another person. They got a letter, but they weren’t assessed by anyone - they just had to confirm they didn’t have any medical conditions that disqualified them from driving, which they didn’t. And then it went away. They absolutely should not have been driving, and they crashed their car (into another car) so badly it was written off a few weeks later. Thankfully, this incident, combined with very strong words from their son, has persuaded them not to drive anymore.

Just jumping on this if I can as in a similar situation. Very concerned about cognitive decline and worsening eyesight in a certain individual. Pretty sure we are on the road to Alzheimer’s too but it’s a really sensitive situation.

If you report to the DVLA or GP is the person made aware that someone has reported it - or can it be made out that due to a number of hospital referrals etc this is standard follow up?

You are being told by multiple people with experience, myself included, that those external services you seem to put so much faith in are UNRELIABLE. So don't rely on them. They aren't going to suddenly step up because your MIL has issues. They should act, of course, but they won't.

There is no alternative but to be proactive yourselves if you want to ensure that MIL cannot go out and drive. In the time it takes for external agencies to act she could have gone out and run over someone.

YOU are being quite rude here.