Quote:
Originally Posted by jamiesgirl
Thanks for all the replies and the links posted, they've been really useful to look at.
Mark, he isn't driving at the moment. We're in the UK and he has to inform the DVLA of his injury - we haven't sent the form off yet but they generally revoke your licence from between 6-12 months if you've had a subdural hematoma. Can you still drive in the states after a head injury?
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I think it just depends on the situation. I know that there is a mandatory 6 months reprieve from driving after a person has had a seizure, but I don't think there's anything mandatory in regards to a head injury.
My Dr. informed me not to drive at all the first time after she saw me after the accident. I hadn't, so it wasn't really an issue. (I just couldn't drive - I wasn't functioning well enough to be able to drive.) About 10 months later my driver's license was up for renewal and when I told the people at the DMV that I wasn't allowed to drive per my Dr.'s instructions they cancelled my license. I think I was supposed to notify them of my Dr.'s initial recommendation that I wasn't to drive - but I didn't know and I was not able to function well enough to figure it out.
Anyway, after a few more months, my Dr. thought I could start to practice to drive in empty parking lots and after doing so with no real issues at 5-10 mph (miles instead of km) she filled out a form for the DMV and my license was reinstated. She still didn't want me to drive far, or on the freeway at all and I'm still not able to do so just because my brain's not able to multitask well enough to and it also can't process fast enough to either. I typically drive less than 10 miles at a time - only when I'm doing my best cognitively. I finally started driving regularly 16 months after the accident that I was in, 3 miles each way to work on side streets and then home from work, three times a week. And now I drive myself to and from work every day M-F.
At first going just 30mph was really difficult for my brain to process and I stayed in the slow lane, but recently I have felt like my brain can handle driving 40-45 mph on most days. I'm hopeful that I'll be able to drive more and more in coming months and years.
Sometimes my boyfriend still has to drive me even short distances when I'm cognitively fatigued. And I'm usually never able to drive in the evening because I'm just too tired and that usually means I'm not functioning well enough to be able to drive safely.
I really miss the independence that comes with being able to drive myself anywhere anytime.