Driving while impaired

[daffy654]

If someone you know is driving whilst having taken prescribed medication that would impair their ability to drive who do you inform? The person concerned is on heart drugs and morphine along with many other drugs such as sleeping pills etc. She is definitely unable to drive safely but won't listen to reason and stop driving. I need to know who to inform about this to ensure the safety of other road users and pedestrians.

[baileybird]

you have an obligation to inform the dvla who will follow it up. this can be done anonymously. i know this is right cos they were talking about it on the one show tonight

[Annlinda]

Has she been told not to drive by a doctor? Of not its difficult for you to say she is not fit. We all know people who we think shouldn't drive but without medical opinion there is not a lot we can do.

[daffy654]

I don't need a doctor to tell me or her she is unfit to drive,she has had several minor accidents in the last few months and has bumped the car when reversing etc. She also drives through red lights occasionally and tailgates all the time. I have been refusing to get in the car with her for some time now as I value my life. I am not being vindictive here,this is a family member i'm talking about who will not listen to me when I ask her if she thinks she should still be driving. She gave another family member a lift to hospital last week and fell asleep/blacked out at the wheel whilst waiting to pull out into a junction. I have been on the DVLA website and there isn't anywhere to report a driver on there,just links for the driver to report there own medical issues.I think I will have to go to the police about it as it is only a matter of time before she has a serious accident.

[baileybird]

i mentioned earlier that the one show had been talking about this. they stated that the dvla will assess whether or not the person should be driving and that you can give information anonymously .

i would have no hesitation. i don't want any of MY loved ones squashed by this person.

you will feel better once you have handed responsibility over to someone else.

[daffy654]

baileybird..... I mentioned in my last post that I have been on the DVLA website and there is nowhere for me to report this person,she has to report herself and she won't.

[gina32]

if you cant find it on the dvla website then phone them up and do it

[bednobs]

who are you in a position to report whether someone is fit to drive or not. Taking medications, including morphine MAY impair your ability to drive but dosent neccasarily do that! the dvla guidlines state that you can take morphine even strong doses and still drive, but that you should stop for 2 days if you have a dose change, while you are getting used to the dose. The driving you describe sounds like half the idiots that live near me, and if youve ever driven on the m4 3/4 of the people tailgate you!

[daffy654]

bednobs...did you read my post where I said this person had blacked out at a junction? I would have thought this made it obvious that the person should not be in charge of a vehicle. If she was to kill someone i'm sure there would be many people who would accuse me of being negligent in not reporting her.I have reported her now and I will leave it to the police and DVLA to decide whether she is fit to drive or not.
Just to be clear....I am not being vindictive here as this person is a member of my own family.

[baileybird]

take no notice of him daffy

i think it is a dreadful situation for you - i would ring the dvla as they said on the thrice mentioned one show that you could ring up and report that someone is medically unfit..
i suspect bedknobs would be the first to complain if this person drove into the side of his car! or worse one of his kids!

i think it takes some guts to address this issue and I am sure that the majority of us would agree that you are doing the right thing trying to get this matter sorted

[daffy654]

I already phoned the DVLA baileybird,when I mentioned the One Show they seemed less than happy.lol. They have probably had a lot of extra calls today because of that programme. They are going to contact the person concerned and ask her to attend a medical assessment.Hopefully they will be able to do something about the situation.I feel guilty that she will no longer have her licence but i'd rather that than have her cause an accident where someone got badly hurt (or died).Thanks for your support.

[Twenty20]

So, just to be clear, are we saying that anyone can contact the DVLA anonymously and state that a person is not fit to drive and they will then investigate it and ask them to attend a medical assessment?

Surely it would take more than an anonymous call or email or we'd all be doing this every time we saw some bad driving? Maybe if the person's GP contacted DVLA I could see this happening, but I can't think they'd spring into action on the basis of an anonymous call?

I'm not saying that you contacted the DVLA anonymously daffy654, but this is the scenario some others are mentioning.

[baileybird]

yes this is exactly what you are able to do. It is a real loophole in the law as doctors have no obligation to advise the dvla of what cocktails people are downing these days.

I would have no hesitation in genuinely recommending someone if I felt that they were MEDICALLY unfit to drive, but not for bad driving - they would i suspect tell you to contact the police in that instance.

well done Daffy, i hope you can now rest easy knowing that you have done exactly the right thing.

[bednobs]

i didnt read your second post about blackouts before i posted. However, your question seemed to imply it was dangerous to drive while taking the drugs mentioned, which it is not nesscarily so. I regularly take morphine, but it dosent impair my ability to drive. I also take sleeping pills but not before driving, before sleeping funnily enough!Thanks for your comments too bailey bird, but just to point out 1) i am a woman
2)i dont have kids!

[baileybird]

you suprise me bedknobs!

i do have kids and dont want them squashing or running off the road