Driving with altzheimers

Burt

New member
Apr 24, 2018
1
0
Hi and it's great to be able to see how others are coping with this very sensitive issue. I wonder if anyone can tell me if when you ring the DVLA they automatically send out a questionnaire for completion. My mother in law contacted them yesterday regarding my father in law who hadn't informed them despite our concern and she never mentioned that a form would be sent out and we get the impression they think everything his now sorted. The website says a form has to be filled in with Gp details etc and the DVLA then make their decision. We don't want to take over but feel we need to be prepared.
 

Countryboy

Registered User
Mar 17, 2005
1,680
0
South West
If a driver informs DVLA they have a medical condition which could affect their driving
the DVLA will send them a form similar the PDF attached this is for the Driver to give consent for the dvla to contact their GP or Hospital it must be signed by the Driver.
Obviously if the driver doesn’t have the ability to sign that person has major issues which are gone far beyond driving

PDF file won't open on Ipad or Iphone
 

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Dee62

New member
Mar 23, 2018
9
0
It's a crazy system. The onus is on the family....again!! But family members don't want to be seen as the 'bad' people and will let things continue too far. They probably don't even inform the insurance company, so there are people with dementia who are driving and likely a risk to the public....and uninsured (when there is an accident and the insurance company find out about the diagnosis then they will refuse to pay up).

Really there needs to be some way, that when you are diagnosed the ability to drive is monitored on a statutory basis. The only problem is that this would be another reason to put people off getting diagnosed. I wonder what they do in other countries?

You're right that we don't want to be the "bad guy" in stopping our loved ones driving, I certainly don't want to be the one to tell my Mum as I know it will be seen as losing her independence and will make her very depressed :( but if I had to I would.

On her diagnosis 6yrs ago we were told by the Doctor at the Older Person's Memory Clinic that the DVLA and Insurance Company must be told which we did. Mum was put on a yearly licence and has undergone eye tests and/or medicals most years on top of being tested by someone at the Memory Clinic, these have then all gone back to the DVLA who has given my Mum her licence back each year. She has been told not to drive at night or to go anywhere she doesn't know which she has kept to, she now really only uses the car to go to the Supermarket. I periodically go in her car as a passenger to "assess" her driving and so far the only thing I could pick her up on was she was revving the engine really hard due to not changing gears when she should, this could be partly because she cannot hear the engine screaming due to being very hard of hearing (totally deaf in one ear). Mum is currently waiting to hear if she is going to get her licence back this year having undergone a medical and a visit from the Memory Clinic, in one way I hope they stop her but in another if they see no reason for not giving her her licence back then who am I to say different? I think she is getting a little worried about driving these days anyway, she hardly uses the car and when she does she is doing less than a 2 mile round trip, this is a lady who loved driving around and did so most days just to get out of the house.
If the DVLA are stopping people driving from the onset then they must have a good reason for doing so, maybe from the information given to them by whoever diagnosed the person? It IS statuary for the DVLA to review a person diagnosed with Alzheimers/Dementia every year or so and they can order a driving evaluation to be carried out if they have doubts whether to re-new the licence which they pay for and is carried out by an Independant Driving Instructors, I know the Disability Resource Center in Luton has such a department.
 
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Countryboy

Registered User
Mar 17, 2005
1,680
0
South West
Well all I know legal driving is a major problem in UK I walk every day and on route I notice some older cars recently , and queried the tax status i checked 4 cars with the DVLA to find that none of them had Road Tax or MOT over six months ago, I reported all of them to dvla, I telephone the Police and was told they couldn’t do anything about car parked No Tax or MOT unless they were being driven I told them its obvious they being driven because there not there every day, I also phoned the local Council they told me the car had to be parked in same location for at least 3 weeks so Neither DVLA Police or Council are bothered this morning I asked the person who lived in the Property adjacent to where the cars park and She told that the people driving were Careers who care for a person a few doors away who receives 24 hour care , I asked her if she could find out the name of the Company the careers work for so I could contact them to inform them the employees are driving illegally by the way I check the all the Cars in Question and none are Insured unfortunately the web site doesn’t say who the insurer is So big problem everywhere