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state laws and driving

Wed, 01/05/2005 - 08:24
I  had a grandmal seizure in New Hampshire.  My license is in Massachusetts.  I received a notice in the mail that NH wants me to attend a meeting to revoke my driving priveledges for a year.  Can they take away amy Massachusetts license?  My seizures are controls and this was the first time in four years.  ANy advice is appreciated. 

Comments

RE: state laws and driving

Submitted by EHammarstrom on Mon, 2005-06-27 - 21:53
Fenway - I hate to say that New Hampshire CAN suspend you right to drive in New Hampsire, but they also have the right to notify Massachuetts in regard to your seizure. - Erik

RE: state laws and driving

Submitted by valhdz on Tue, 2005-06-28 - 07:28
They can't take your D.L. from you... They can contact officials in MA about your driving with the conditions you have. I live in Dallas , Tx. , state law says no driving until you have your seizures under control...

RE: RE: state laws and driving

Submitted by DeborahMarie on Fri, 2005-08-19 - 17:27

Where I come from which is Ontario, Canada...they suspend your Driver's Licence under the grounds of medical suspension...I'm not sure about the code of law that it's under...but all Doctors are obligated to report any persons that have a medical condition that renders them unsafe to drive.  I recieved such a letter from the Ontario's Motor Vehicle Licencing Commision to surrender my licence to them under this code in the law.  In Ontario, any persons with a medical condition that causes them to be unsafe behind the wheel, whether it be, epilespy, diabetes, heart condition for example fall into this catigory.  I now live in Denmark and here the law states 6 months but my neuroligist here says 1 yr for me, which I don't consider a big deal because it has been almost 14 yrs now that I haven't been able to get my driver's licence back.  I have adjusted to not driving, which wasn't easy for the first few years.  I had a car (chev scooter) that I loved and crashed in a seizure. Saw it go to the junk yard and made peace with it.  Learning to live with having a seizure disorder has taken me a good  10 yrs and I do at times stuggle with it, just like all of you do....I get angry and have my feeling sorry for myself moments....but I think who doesn't?  We all have things we stuggle with...for me it's Epilespy, for others it's something else.  I have seen friends die of Cancer, Heart Disease, Kidney Disease to name a few and I look at my life and am thankful that if I am to have a disorder (syndrom,disorder,disease) whichever is politically correct at the moment) I have something that can be managed with medications available, surgeries, biofeedback therapy to learn stress management, education that is out there like here to learn about the disorder we have to live with.  To know what can trigger a seizure has help me alot!!!

I have been through alot with epilepsy and don't like to speak about it to often except in a safe place which I feel may be here (sometimes) but to give you some background about myself...I have what is called technically Mesial Temprol Lobe Epilepsy.  I have been in the The Epilepsy Unit at London Health Sciences Centre and had the scalp EEG/video monitoring, the MRI's showed bilateral hippocampal atrophy and I have 3 types of seizures, complex partial seizures, tonic clonic, and, absence seizures.  Surgery was an option for me in the left lobe but I opted to continue with med's and take pyshotherapy which helped me immensly.  I'm not as angry or as scared as I use to be to go out in public or tell people about my condition.  I don't see Epilsepy anymore as a curse, barrier to what I can do.  I have limitations but being aware of them makes me ahead of the game.  I don't say I can't anymore...I say I'll try!!!.  I was almost 22 yrs old when I had my first tonic clonic, and with looking back over medical records we can actually pin point me to having absence and complex partial at the age of 13 yrs old.  I always thought I was an underachiever in school, labelled as one who didn't try or pay attention so I lived up to that label.  I don't like labels of any kind ( it's just mental thing I have about them)  I think they lessen us as people to label ourselves.  I am ME..take me or leave me is my saying!!!  I try to keep up on information out there about Epilespy but I refuse to make it the whole centre of my life.  If I did it would control me like it did for the first few yrs...slowly I worked my way out of that thinking and am so glad I did.  My quality of life has taken on a whole new meaning since doing so.  The freedom it gave it to just go out there and do my thing, not really caring if I have a seizure has been beyond words to express.  I wear a Medic Alert and have confidence in the general public who have helped me before during a seizure that I'll be OK.  People were nicer than I gave them credit for when I started having seizures..

Live Life!!! It's out there for you...I wish everyone with epilespy to feel safe to go out and live...learn something, like computers, gardening, read alot of books, work if you can ( I know some can't due to having it so bad that you can not) ( I didn't work for 8 yrs due to epilepsy) take a craft up, take joy in your family and friends...BE YOU!!!

Sincerely,

Deborah Marie

Where I come from which is Ontario, Canada...they suspend your Driver's Licence under the grounds of medical suspension...I'm not sure about the code of law that it's under...but all Doctors are obligated to report any persons that have a medical condition that renders them unsafe to drive.  I recieved such a letter from the Ontario's Motor Vehicle Licencing Commision to surrender my licence to them under this code in the law.  In Ontario, any persons with a medical condition that causes them to be unsafe behind the wheel, whether it be, epilespy, diabetes, heart condition for example fall into this catigory.  I now live in Denmark and here the law states 6 months but my neuroligist here says 1 yr for me, which I don't consider a big deal because it has been almost 14 yrs now that I haven't been able to get my driver's licence back.  I have adjusted to not driving, which wasn't easy for the first few years.  I had a car (chev scooter) that I loved and crashed in a seizure. Saw it go to the junk yard and made peace with it.  Learning to live with having a seizure disorder has taken me a good  10 yrs and I do at times stuggle with it, just like all of you do....I get angry and have my feeling sorry for myself moments....but I think who doesn't?  We all have things we stuggle with...for me it's Epilespy, for others it's something else.  I have seen friends die of Cancer, Heart Disease, Kidney Disease to name a few and I look at my life and am thankful that if I am to have a disorder (syndrom,disorder,disease) whichever is politically correct at the moment) I have something that can be managed with medications available, surgeries, biofeedback therapy to learn stress management, education that is out there like here to learn about the disorder we have to live with.  To know what can trigger a seizure has help me alot!!!

I have been through alot with epilepsy and don't like to speak about it to often except in a safe place which I feel may be here (sometimes) but to give you some background about myself...I have what is called technically Mesial Temprol Lobe Epilepsy.  I have been in the The Epilepsy Unit at London Health Sciences Centre and had the scalp EEG/video monitoring, the MRI's showed bilateral hippocampal atrophy and I have 3 types of seizures, complex partial seizures, tonic clonic, and, absence seizures.  Surgery was an option for me in the left lobe but I opted to continue with med's and take pyshotherapy which helped me immensly.  I'm not as angry or as scared as I use to be to go out in public or tell people about my condition.  I don't see Epilsepy anymore as a curse, barrier to what I can do.  I have limitations but being aware of them makes me ahead of the game.  I don't say I can't anymore...I say I'll try!!!.  I was almost 22 yrs old when I had my first tonic clonic, and with looking back over medical records we can actually pin point me to having absence and complex partial at the age of 13 yrs old.  I always thought I was an underachiever in school, labelled as one who didn't try or pay attention so I lived up to that label.  I don't like labels of any kind ( it's just mental thing I have about them)  I think they lessen us as people to label ourselves.  I am ME..take me or leave me is my saying!!!  I try to keep up on information out there about Epilespy but I refuse to make it the whole centre of my life.  If I did it would control me like it did for the first few yrs...slowly I worked my way out of that thinking and am so glad I did.  My quality of life has taken on a whole new meaning since doing so.  The freedom it gave it to just go out there and do my thing, not really caring if I have a seizure has been beyond words to express.  I wear a Medic Alert and have confidence in the general public who have helped me before during a seizure that I'll be OK.  People were nicer than I gave them credit for when I started having seizures..

Live Life!!! It's out there for you...I wish everyone with epilespy to feel safe to go out and live...learn something, like computers, gardening, read alot of books, work if you can ( I know some can't due to having it so bad that you can not) ( I didn't work for 8 yrs due to epilepsy) take a craft up, take joy in your family and friends...BE YOU!!!

Sincerely,

Deborah Marie

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