There are a shocking number of legal and ethical considerations that have to be made when you have to report someone who has a history of seizures to the DMV. Besides, having a seizure as you’re driving is incredibly hazardous, to both the driver and other road users. However, when it comes to needing to file the report in the first place, who reports seizures to the DMV? Well, there is a wide range of parties who hold that responsibility in reporting to the DMV.
This includes healthcare providers or even the patient themselves, not to mention caregivers or family members, as well as law enforcement agencies. Ultimately, when this report is received, the DMV is now responsible for reviewing the medical evaluation to decide if a driver is able to safely operate a vehicle, given their history of seizures. If the seizures are bad enough or if they happen too frequently, the DMV might even suspend or restrict the driver’s license.
So, with that in mind, here’s a breakdown of who reports seizures to the DMV, and who bears that responsibility:
1) Healthcare Providers
Whether it’s a doctor, neurologist, or other medical professionals who’ve diagnosed someone to have a history of seizures, they’re able to report this to the DMV. Medical professionals will have their specific processes for warning the DMV of people who might suffer from underlying medical conditions that could impair their ability to drive safely. So, if you frequently have any seizures, your doctor might warn the DMV about you, but that’s for your own good.
A medical professional will have to fill out a medical evaluation report or any other documents provided by the DMV (this may differ between states). Here, they’ll be able to detail all of their patients’ conditions but mainly focus on the exact nature of those seizures, and what sort of treatments are being administered to cure or control the seizures.
Obviously, there’s the whole ‘patient-doctor confidentiality’ issue that they’ll have to balance. Basically, medical professionals and healthcare providers have to maintain a patient’s right to confidentiality in their medical records, but also to practice their legal obligation to report this to the DMV. One little factoid I’ve learned; medical professionals are usually protected by law from liability for breaching their patient’s confidentiality in cases like this.
2) The Patient Themselves
Some states require folks who suffer from seizures to self-report these conditions to the DMV. Normally, in some states, that is a legal obligation, and failing to do so could result in fines or penalties, not to mention risking your driver’s license being suspended.
To self-report yourself to the DMV – if you suffer from seizures – requires submitting a medical evaluation form completed by your healthcare provider. In other words, if your doctor doesn’t report you first, you’ll have to do it yourself. It’s important to bear in mind that you must send this form to the DMV within a certain timeframe after the seizure occurs. The DMV could then take their time to assess whether or not you’re able to continue driving safely.
Now, even if you’re self-reporting yourself, there are still consequences. Mainly, it may lead to a temporary suspension of your driver’s license, at least until you’re medically cleared to drive again. The latter ‘all-clear’ is usually given by your healthcare provider, if they’ve found that a patient no longer suffers from frequent seizures.
3) Family Members & Caregivers
Otherwise, if neither you nor your healthcare provider has reported your seizures to the DMV, caregivers or close family members could report you to the DMV, instead. If they are aware of your seizures, they’re encouraged to report to the DMV, in the best interests of you and other road users. Remember, having a seizure while you’re behind the wheel is no joke, and it could seriously harm so many innocent people as a result.
In so doing, if family members or caregivers who are aware of seizures for the folks they care for want to report that to the DMV, the process is familiar. It starts by gathering any medical evaluation forms and other accompanying paperwork that showcase those seizures and then submitting those to the DMV. I understand that there’s often some reluctance in doing this to safeguard their driving privileges, so it’s vital to approach this slowly and with empathy, while also emphasizing that you’re doing this to ensure their safety.
4) Law Enforcement Agencies
Of course, law enforcement officers who come across accidents or traffic incidents where they respond to drivers who exhibit seizure-like symptoms will have to report them to the DMV. The reports may trigger the DMV to review the driver’s ability to safely drive a vehicle, especially if they do have a history of seizures.
The process is a bit different for them, though. Police officers typically document such incidents in a report, which is usually forwarded to the DMV for further action. The justification, as you’d imagine, is that police officers or other law enforcement agents must consider public safety, as they report drivers who might pose a risk to other road users due to medical conditions such as seizures.
5) Are You Eligible To Keep Driving?
Contrary to what some might think, people who suffer from seizures are still legally allowed to drive. However, this only applies within a very specific criteria, in that if you have a seizure, you must be seizure-free for anywhere from 6 months to one year (depending on the state), to then be able to drive once again.
Granted, if you want to regain your driving privileges, you must get a medical clearance from a healthcare provider. This may also force you to take part in regular medical evaluations, not to mention providing proof to the DMV that you’re effectively being able to manage or treat that seizure. These will probably be followed by additional testing or monitoring to ensure that you really are seizure-free.
In some cases, though, folks who suffer from seizures would be issued with restricted licenses. This basically permits you to drive under specific conditions (mainly, where it won’t trigger the seizure to happen, based on a medical evaluation), like being able to drive only during daylight hours, or even being restricted to driving within a certain distance from your home.
6) What Happens If You Don’t Report Seizures?
You might be wondering then, what happens if no one reports seizures to the DMV? Well, here are some of the more common, legal implications if you don’t report a seizure to the DMV:
- Legal penalties often come first, usually in the form of fines and a suspension of all your driving privileges.
- Other than that, not reporting a seizure will no doubt negate any auto insurance coverage you might have. Remember, insurers require that you report underlying medical conditions, so they have the right to deny coverage for accidents caused by seizures.
- Worse, if you caused an accident because of a seizure, and it’s known that you didn’t report it to the DMV (according to the state’s reporting laws for seizures), you’re likely liable for all the damages caused by the accident, not to mention potential criminal charges.