Submitted 3 months ago by sem@piefed.blahaj.zone to nostupidquestions@lemmy.world
Title. When I drive past, I get hit by alternating shadow and bright sunlight very quickly, and it is uncomfortable for me, and I don’t have epilepsy. So just wondering if that is a concern for people who do have it.
From what I understand, ithe lights need to trigger at certain frequencies. Everything in the other comments still apply, but it would let trigger an episode in everybody.
They don’t, unless it is sufficiently controlled by medication. A doctor has to sign off that they think you can drive safely. Regulations vary by jurisdiction. Here in Ohio, USA you get a two-part license that says you need a doctor’s permit every time you renew your license to say you can continue to drive. Then you carry a piece of the paper (the second part) with your DL.
For the doctor (neurologist) to be confident that you aren’t going to have seizure while driving, you have to have been seizure free for some time, plus maybe have regular EEG scans to confirm that you are not susceptible to seizures while being exposed to blinking lights. The blinking lights are part of the EEG scan. You basically hyperventilate (on purpose) while they flash lights at different frequencies and measure your brain waves. If the response is too severe, you fail.
Like any condition, epilepsy comes in many forms and many levels of severity. Some epileptics can barely function and can have brain damage from too many seizures. Some people have no effects at all as long as they are on medication.
I don’t have epilepsy, but I do get migraines, and what you described is a perfect trigger for me.
Best way to avoid it is don’t drive when the sun is low in the sky or on roads lined with very tall trees. If for some reason I was trapped in such a situation, which is not really likely since it’s very predictable if it’s something you’re interested in avoiding, I would probably slow down, find somewhere to pull over, and just wait it out. But yeah, it is bad. I don’t do it if I can at all help it, because I avoid getting into that situation like the plague.
Thanks for your answer. That makes a lot of sense.
I think I heard someone on a podcast with seizures triggered by lights and she said wearing sunglasses and in extreme cases closing one eye helped reduce the effects on her a lot.
I have a cousin who experiences this. He can drive, but he chooses when he’ll drive. Otherwise, the migraines are excruciating, and it appears to worsen his mood, despite him being a naturally passive person.
You are incorrect when it comes to the United Stares. There is a varying period of time you have to go without seizures, but you are not permanently barred from driving.
Disability sucks hard
Society arguably sucks harder. Many disabled people (for various disabilities) live their lives happily and are mostly annoyed by the way society treats them.
In what jurisdiction?
Legally? They can’t drive.
Anyone with an episode is barred from driving for 6 months, and if you have frequent episodes, well you don’t drive.
Driving is a privilege, not a right, if you can’t drive, you don’t get to. End of discussion.
The same is true in the US. When we have seizures we are reported to the dmv and get our licenses suspended for 6 months the.
Yeah in the US epileptics have similar restrictions. And much like up there, this makes them second class citizens in most places. I don’t want them driving, buy I won’t pretend that that isn’t a major disability in most of our continent (majority by population, not even just area).
It’s easy to say driving is a privilege when we think of the consequences of people like epileptics and alcoholics driving, but we do need to remember that it is structural and policy decisions that make it so that those who lack the privilege of operating this heavy machinery will struggle to maintain employment.
Not to mention you are often hated for being a pedestrian. The idea that you don’t use a car makes people angry.
That is actually pretty debilitating now that I know this.
The time span differs. My mentor’s husband in Missouri is barred from driving for a year after a seizure; my partner mention that it’s five years in North Carolina.
I haven’t looked up any of the rules, but those are just examples of what I’ve heard.
It’s the same in the US, or at least around me. Had a manager that had a seizure (thankfully just once) but they essentially had to take 6 months off because he lived far away and couldn’t commute anymore.
Happened to my son-n-law, had a seizure couldn’t drive for a year.
It’s state by state. Some states don’t make physicians report, so there’s not necessarily enforcement. I waited the six months after my seizures, but there wasn’t really any mechanism by which a cop would have known if I hadn’t.
Australia is the same.
The wife of a coworker of mine had her license revoked because she started having seizures after having a kid.
Slowly or very fast but not reasonably.
And at night
I dont have it, but my cousin does. The answer is he doesn’t. Its too dangerous for him to drive on his own most of the time. Now he does have medication that helps but he still doesnt own a car or travel by himself.
hanrahan@slrpnk.net 3 months ago
They can’t drive
sem@piefed.blahaj.zone 3 months ago
Cool ty for the link, although annoyed by the French surrender joke.