Concerned about a friend learning to drive...

Toonie

I don't know if this is the right place to ask this but I'm stuck. A friend of mine has asked another mutual friend to teach her to drive. She rides a scooter to work but wants to learn to drive a car, so she has her provisional and has had a few lessons. What I'm concerned about is she has a visual field problem and no spatial awareness due a brain injury at birth which she has not declared. This makes me doubt whether she is allowed to drive and also whether our other friend could get into trouble for teaching her to drive knowing that she hasn't declared her health problems.

Do you have any advice as to whether she can drive and if my friend would get into trouble for teaching her? The last thing I want is for either of my friends to be involved in an accident and hurt themselves or others.

Quentin

Presumably she has held a licence for some time for the scooter, so why are you concerned now?

Toonie

She has only just started riding the scooter and I had presumed that she had informed the DVLA about her visual problems but I now know she hasn't.

Lum

If she is managing on a scooter with these disabilities and has managed to not get killed/injured despite being one of the most vulnerable types of road user out there, then she probably has some form of coping strategy that is working for her.

Any spatial awareness issues caused by the size of her vehicle, inability to park etc. will be picked up on the driving lessons and/or test. At worst she will be out some cash for wasted lessons.

If she is able to adapt her coping strategies, or form new ones, to handle a larger vehicle; and then pass her test in said vehicle, then she'll be fine.

Edit: This was written before I saw the post immediately above. In any case I'd be more concerned about her safety on the scooter. What is the name of the conditions she suffers from, are they on this list?

Toonie

She has a visual field defect but I'm not sure of the name of the spatial awareness problem. She has also had two accidents on her scooter and received four fines for turning where she shouldn't.

whitewing

Why don't you speak to the DVLA without giving names and see what they say?

Then you can make a decision about what to do. Some people do need saving from themself.

There was a girl where I worked once who had a fit at work. She continued driving until one of her friends notified the DVLA. Some people don't like to inconvenience themselves despite the risk to others.

Lum

Looking at this pragmatically. I assume you do not wish your friend to end up being in trouble with the law; by which I mean proper trouble in a court, not tickets. This is what could happen if you report her. I assume she's riding the scooter on a provisional licence right now and has somehow managed to pass CBT?

If she goes out on driving lessons she will be in a much safer position as she will be with a qualified instructor in a dual control vehicle. It is the responsibility of the instructor to ensure that she is not a danger to other people and they are very good at this.

So, unless she is financially struggling and you are concerned about her throwing her money away, I would just let her carry on with it. If she is really as bad as you say she is, she will never pass her driving test and the instructor will tell her exactly why and probably tell her to stop riding the scooter. This way it doesn't have to come from you.

In the meantime she'll be nice and safe in a modern vehicle with crumple zones, airbags and dual controls. Much better than pottering about unsupervised on a bloody scooter!

Quentin

Toonie wrote: »

She has a visual field defect but I'm not sure of the name of the spatial awareness problem. She has also had two accidents on her scooter and received four fines for turning where she shouldn't.

What was her 4 crimes?

Maybe she has too many points to be on the road?

Lum

Quentin wrote: »

What was her 4 crimes?

Maybe she has too many points to be on the road?

Turning where she shouldn't will be things like going through a no-entry, disobeying a no-right-turn sign etc.

These are not endorsable offences.

Toonie

Thanks for the advice.

Three of her fines are no right turns and one is a no entry. She doesn't seem to pay attention on the road. She has managed to pass her CBT but she has had so many problems as she doesn't know any of the highway code and very few road signs.

The last thing I want is for her to injure herself or someone else. That is my main concern because of her lack of attention and spatial awareness.

She also doesn't want to take proper lessons and just wants our other friend to teach her which I believe is because she will get found out by a qualified driving instructor. They are planning to buy a KA and practice on small local roads.

Lum

Is your other friend aware of these disabilities.

The person supervising the driving is responsible for any mistakes made by the learner, so this other friend is setting themselves up for a lot of legal hassle. Perhaps you should make sure they are aware of this?

Failing that, have your other friend insist that she at least pass the theory test before agreeing to go out with her. From what you have told us she will never get through the hazard perception part.