Epilepsy And Driving - article by Good English Article Sites

Epilepsy and Driving

Epilepsy is a condition in which an individual experiences seizures due to abnormal electrical signals in the brain. Seizures can vary in how they manifest. Most people associate seizures with having convulsions—convulsions are indeed a symptom of having a seizure, but individuals who are experiencing a seizure don’t necessarily shake uncontrollably. In fact, you might not even notice that a person is having a seizure because it can happen quietly. Other symptoms include staring into space, becoming confused, experiencing déjà vu, and the hallucination of smells or unusual visual changes. In some cases, the person can faint and lose consciousness. Seizures are thought to affect about 3 million Americans, and probably 1 in 100 will experience a seizure in their lifetimes. However, it takes at least 2 seizures to be diagnosed as having epilepsy.

A seizure can be seriously debilitating, so having seizures consistently is understandably an obstacle to daily living. People with epilepsy may not be able to participate in motor activities we take for granted, like driving. If a driver experiences a seizure while on the road, they would lose control of the wheel and potentially die. This is why concerning epilepsy and driving, the law generally prohibits people with epilepsy from going behind the wheel. In cases where driving with epilepsy is allowed, the individual usually has their epilepsy under control with treatment or has not experienced a seizure for a substantial period of time. They also need a note from the doctor confirming that having epilepsy and driving is okay for them.

The issue of epilepsy and driving can be controversial because many would think that allowing someone with epilepsy to drive is dangerous, while others might see this as discriminatory. It’s similar to the issue of deaf people driving, in that many also see this as dangerous, but it’s different on a couple of points. For one, research suggest that deaf drivers are actually better drivers than hearing people, whereas a person experiencing a seizure is clearly unfit to drive. Also, deaf people will probably have deafness continually where as epileptic people are otherwise “normal” when not having a seizure. It’s hard to say whether epilepsy and driving should be allowed to go hand in hand because on one hand, people should have equal rights, but on the other hand disabilities by definition restrict people from certain tasks and letting someone with epilepsy drive is definitely a risk. The law is not set in stone—it varies from state to state and sometimes changes, but as things currently are, we likely won’t ride in cars with epileptic drivers.

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