Epilepsy sufferers ‘should not be driving’

Police and doctors urge people with conditions that may cause convulsions to stop driving and putting lives at risk.

DUBAI // People who suffer from medical conditions that cause fits and seizures, such as epilepsy, should not be behind the wheel of a car, police and doctors said on Monday.

The 22-year-old Emirati driver of a pick-up vehicle that crashed through the front window of a McDonald's restaurant in Ajman on Sunday evening, killing two people and injuring five others, was found slumped unconscious in his vehicle when police arrived at the Eppco petrol station around 8.30pm. He had suffered an epileptic fit.

“The motorist was unconscious when the crew pulled him from the car,” said Col Abdullah Al Hamrani, deputy commander general at Ajman Police. “It was the first time he had had a fit while driving, according to him, and the result was tragic. We looked at his medical reports, which confirm he suffers from seizures.”

Officers discovered the driver had suffered fits four times at his family home since getting his driving licence. The seizure that led to the accident was his fifth.

Col Al Hamrani asked residents not to drive if they have health problems.

“Some people pass the driving test and later discover that they suffer from seizures. In such cases we wish that drivers would show the honesty to inform us about their medical condition so we can help them, and not to wait until a disaster happens because it is dangerous.”

A 45-year-old Indian woman and a nine-year-old Iraqi boy were killed in the Ajman accident. The injured, including the two-year-old grandson of the dead woman, as well as two Iraqi girls aged five and 10, a 59-year-old Arab man and a 27-year-old Indian man who works at the restaurant, were all treated at Sheikh Khalifa Hospital.

Dr Atta Alkaznaji, specialist neurologist at Burjeel Hospital in Abu Dhabi, said patients who suffer from seizures should not be allowed to drive unless they have been cleared by a physician.

“It’s clinically and medically unacceptable that a patient has uncontrolled epilepsy and still drives. The person’s driving licence should be under the supervision of police.”

Dr Alkaznaji advised people suffering from epilepsy not to drive for at least three to six months after a seizure.

“If the seizures are controlled and six months have passed, they can drive. Police and the law are involved and they should be informed if a person has seizures. The person should submit the information whenever he gets seizures.”

The doctor said that patients needed to be advised and educated.

“I usually tell them not to drive at all, especially when epilepsy is newly diagnosed. Most of them listen to me but some do not listen,” he said.

The motorist is in police custody and will face charges, Col Al Hamrani said. “He will be charged because he knows that he suffers from seizures and doctors advised him not to drive, according to what he said, so there will be a legal action that will be taken by the court.”

His case has been passed to the Ajman Public Prosecution.