Driving licence suspended but Dad still driving

anxious annie

Registered User
Jan 2, 2019
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Hi @Bettusboo , it's such a tricky situation, but as others have suggested you need to find out exactly what has been said by or to DVLA by contacting your dad's GP. The GP must have concerns to be suggesting this, , what do you think of his driving? If you are even only the slightest concerned you do need to stop your dad driving before e he has an accident and harms himself or someone else. Having been in the position of having to tell someone I was concerned they'd have an accident, I would definitely get someone in authority do the telling
 

Jaded'n'faded

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Jan 23, 2019
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High Peak
The thing is, dementia can change very quickly. You often hear about people getting lost, having a near miss or not recognising the road they are on, but these people were fine the day before!

I honestly think a diagnosis of dementia should mean an immediate driving ban. (Apologies @Countryboy but I think you must be one in a million! Also, I'm sure you accept yourself that one day you won't be able to drive - who would be the best judge of that? You?)

At various points along the dementia journey, we, as carers, have to step in and take over a situation, often having to overrule or go against the wishes of the person with dementia. It isn't pleasant and there can be difficult/angry recriminations from the person with dementia. But you just have to do it because.... it's the right thing to do. No one does these things for any reason other than that it is in the person's best interests (not to mention other road users/pedestrians.)
 

MartinWL

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Jun 12, 2020
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London
The point that @Countryboy and others may have overlooked is that despite some exceptions dementia is usually progressive and action needs to be taken to stop a pWD driving before, not when, they become a danger to themselves and others.

Often the PWD doesn't understand or accept his/her condition and is therefore unable to make an informed decision under the Mental Capacity Act.
 

MartinWL

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Jun 12, 2020
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London
The thing is, dementia can change very quickly. You often hear about people getting lost, having a near miss or not recognising the road they are on, but these people were fine the day before!

I honestly think a diagnosis of dementia should mean an immediate driving ban. (Apologies @Countryboy but I think you must be one in a million! Also, I'm sure you accept yourself that one day you won't be able to drive - who would be the best judge of that? You?)

At various points along the dementia journey, we, as carers, have to step in and take over a situation, often having to overrule or go against the wishes of the person with dementia. It isn't pleasant and there can be difficult/angry recriminations from the person with dementia. But you just have to do it because.... it's the right thing to do. No one does these things for any reason other than that it is in the person's best interests (not to mention other road users/pedestrians.)
I completely agree with this posting.
 

Duggies-girl

Registered User
Sep 6, 2017
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I thank God for the day that dad lost his car as it gave me the chance to get him to the doctors because he said he had been dizzy. I tipped the doctor off as to how bad dad's driving was and the doctor told dad that he must stop driving at once.

This led to dad being diagnosed with alzheimer's and he never drove again. Dad was a disaster waiting to happen and I am so thankful that nothing bad happened. I let dad carry on driving for far longer than I should have and it was a miracle that he never had an accident that involved another person.

He had accidents that involved a lorry caving in most of the passenger side of his car (dad's fault actually) dents on all four corners of his car with some of these dents having secondary dents in them. He was driving around with a space saver wheel having written off a wheel on a traffic island.

If he had had another accident it would have been my fault entirely because I had allowed him to carry on like this all because I did not want to upset him. I shudder to think about it now as it could have all been so much worse and I thank God for dad's wonderful GP who had the common sense to tell dad 'No more driving'
 

Wishing20

Registered User
Feb 27, 2020
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The thing is, dementia can change very quickly. You often hear about people getting lost, having a near miss or not recognising the road they are on, but these people were fine the day before!

I honestly think a diagnosis of dementia should mean an immediate driving ban. (Apologies @Countryboy but I think you must be one in a million! Also, I'm sure you accept yourself that one day you won't be able to drive - who would be the best judge of that? You?)

At various points along the dementia journey, we, as carers, have to step in and take over a situation, often having to overrule or go against the wishes of the person with dementia. It isn't pleasant and there can be difficult/angry recriminations from the person with dementia. But you just have to do it because.... it's the right thing to do. No one does these things for any reason other than that it is in the person's best interests (not to mention other road users/pedestrians.)
I do agree with you there, that you should not be allowed to drive with Dementia.
I was completely shocked when after Mum’s diagnosis of Alzheimer’s she was still allowed to drive and all the DVLA required was an annual check up by the doctor, which I know, at the time, my Mum would have told the doctor she was fit to drive, when she completely wasn’t.
 

Countryboy

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Mar 17, 2005
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South West
Hi Jaded”n”faded sorry but I’m not one in a million ;) but I am a fighter ? when will i give up?‍♂️?‍♂️

first of all I personally would like to see All Bad Drivers taken Off our roads irrespective of age gender or Medical condition this could be achieved similar to Passport renewal every give Drivers a 10 year driving licence then a Driving Test on renewal,

What I do object to is assuming the only Bad drivers are people with Dementia which simply not true, in 2012-15 I was a member of the Alzheimer’s Society Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Dementia Leadership Group there were eight members all with Dementias obviously we had give consent to NHS Trust to give our dementia details anyway the member ages ranged from 68 to 83 and Five members of the group still held a driving licence and drove themselves to the venue some doing 70 miles round trip obviously the meeting were chaired by an Alzheimer’s Society member of Staff and minutes were recorded

Back to the topic dementia driving just like everyone with certain medical conditions are supposed to do I informed the DVLA I had No idea of the implication’s of doing that would be until I was given a driving licence for one year I continually fought this for over 10 years until 2012 after talking to a Solicitor friend who advised me to gather as much evidence / information as possible if I was going to challenge the DVLA in Court well I did and was issued my full driving licence again in 2013 ok by then I was over age of 70 so it only lasted three years

My TP driving thread from back in Feb 17, 2013

If your want to keep your driving licence I suggest you gather as much information as possible to support you ability to retain your driving licence for example: (1) Letters from your GP or Consultant (2) insurance agent record of claims (3) take a driving assessment make sure you book this yourself the report then is yours (4) make a short video of yourself driving on various roads and conditions (5) if you a regularly hire a car abroad ask them to give a report on previous hire (6) support of family & friends after gathering this information the dvla’s legal department will look at and if you have a strong case its unlikely the DVLA will go to court

most of all don’t give up it may take awhile if your right take on the DVLA on and challenge them remember there only bureaucrats sitting in front of a computer an office

Send complaints to the Customer Services Manager, DVLA, Swansea
SA7 0EE. Alternatively the ‘make a complaint’ online form can be completed at direct.gov.uk/emaildvla. The DVLA aims to answer complaints within two weeks.

Motorists who are still not happy after the initial response should write to the DVLA’s chief executive Simon Tse at DVLA Swansea, SA6 7JL. Again, allow two weeks for a response.

The chief executive can refer the matter to an independent complaints assessor if you request this. The assessor can look at matters involving poor service, incorrect advice or unreasonable delay.

You can also complain to your MP and they can refer the matter to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, whose decisions are not legally binding but are invariably followed. Compensation can be recommended.
 

jennifer1967

Registered User
Mar 15, 2020
23,142
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Southampton
i think the thread was about a person whose driving had deteriated due to dementia and was not considered safe on the road not that every bad driver had dementia.there are bad drivers in all walks of life and all medical conditions as well. its not a personal attack on people who have dementia but on what is safe and how to safeguard other people.
 

Duggies-girl

Registered User
Sep 6, 2017
3,620
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i think the thread was about a person whose driving had deteriated due to dementia and was not considered safe on the road not that every bad driver had dementia.there are bad drivers in all walks of life and all medical conditions as well. its not a personal attack on people who have dementia but on what is safe and how to safeguard other people.

Yes my dad drove quite safely for a while but he must have realised that his driving skills were worsening because he started to limit his distances and only drove his familiar routes to the shops or to visit his brother or friends. He would never leave his local area.

Somewhere along the line he must have forgotten why he had limited himself and would have just carried on regardless because he then thought he was fine. The state of his car spoke for itself in the end. He also thought that a caved in door and front wing was just a scratch when previously he would have been horrified.

I remember years ago friends of my parents came over from Australia to see the UK for one last time because the husband had been diagnosed with dementia. They drove all over the UK before they went home and the wife judged her husband to be safe to drive. They took my parents out for a day and they also said that he was a good driver. Don't know what happened to them after they went home.

I think that families and partners are usually in a good position to judge whether someone is a safe driver or not.
 

Bettusboo

Registered User
Aug 30, 2020
183
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I put this thread on a year ago and i thought it would be interesting to give an update. I did the notes all over the car thing and it seemed to work. What helped enormously was that after a while the car battery went flat and he couldn’t start it anyway. He got quite stressed about this and in the end I arranged for it to go for an MOT. By this time my powers of attorney had come through. However, we had a very sensible conversation about my Dad no longer having a licence (this was confirmed) and he agreed to me selling the car which I have done. I used the POA for this. It did not go home again after its MOT. Initially he was very upset about not having a car and complained about it on a daily basis and was constantly telling me I had to bring his car back. Really awful and distressing for him. There is absolutely no way he would be safe to drive so I know I have done the right thing but it has been hard. A year on, this challenge has faded into the background amongst all the other challenges we are facing although he does bring it up from time to time.
 

MartinWL

Registered User
Jun 12, 2020
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67
London
It is over a year since my dad was forced to stop driving, followed by me selling his car to ensure that he did not drive. However he still says quite regularly that he ought to get another car. Recently an application form for an HGV licence was sent to him by the DVLA, he probably telephoned them but does not remember. He does not want an HGV license so I put the form in recycling. He has also written to DVLA asking for his licence back but confusing the facts twice.

I don't think he is going to do anything about it in practical terms but it continues to cause him distress. He doesn't remember his diagnosis and sees no reason for not driving. Living in a rural area where there are buses twice a day doesn't help.
 

Bettusboo

Registered User
Aug 30, 2020
183
0
It sounds very similar to our situation. My dad also often mentions getting a new car. I’ve been advised that it’s a very common issue but it fussing make it any easier. I think the only reason he has moved on slightly is because my mum has had to move into a care home and now his major focus is on when she is going to be able to come home. Unfortunately she isn’t but he is not prepared to move into the care hone himself. It’s heartbreaking. X
 

JanBWiltshire

Registered User
Jun 23, 2020
217
0
Gloucestershire
This is such a similar situation to me and two years after selling the car I still get “if only we still had the car” even though neither of my parents is deemed fit to drive and, even they were, they couldn’t even walk a few years, so it is pretty irrelevant. My mother often says my father could drop her somewhere and she could “dash” in….hmmmmm, I don’t think so!