[allan5oh]

Anyone who has been driving long enough knows that millions of SAFE truckers have some sort of medical condition and the only way they can put food on the table is to 'fudge' private details of the physical.

That's the biggest bunch of bullshit I've ever heard.

[Orangetxguy]

Just wondering here.

How many seconds would a safe seizure be, while at the controls of a truck that weighs 78,000#'s?

How safe is a seizure of say...13 seconds, if that truck weighing 78,000#s is traveling at 65 mph, with the cruise control set?

How safe is a seizure of say...3 seconds, in the same truck, under the same speed contsraints?

While I have never had any type of seizure, I can tell you first hand, that watching an individual undergo a seizure of 13 seconds is very very hard. Your personal panic set's in at about 4 seconds, and by the 10th second...you are sweating profusely, and have dialated eyes, while your voice and hands are trembling, as you attempt to comfort the person experiencing the seizure. A grandmaul seizure, which lasts considerably longer than a minor seziure, is even harder to remain composed with.

Now, I know what I described above, because my nephew Creighton, had more than a few siezures between the ages of 9 and 15. Several times he was with me, when seizures occured. He has Cereberal Palsy, and epileptic seizures were a side symptom to the palsy, during those years. He was on "Dylantum"(sp) for most of those years. Perhaps his worst seizure, was at age 12. We (myself, Creighton, his brother, and a friend of their's) were in the Kingdome, for a game between the Mariners and the A's, when Creighton went into a grandmaul. Those were the worst 25 minutes of my life, because I could do nothing for him, nor could King County Paramedics...some of the best Paramedics in this country! Surprisingly enough, flight attendants are perhaps some of the best, at comforting a victim of a seizure, during and after the episode. yes...Creighton had a seizure while flying cross country.

DOT regulations prohibit individual's with a history of seizures from driving a commercial vehicle on the roads of this country, from flying an aircraft of any type through the skies of this country, and also prohibit those individuals from operating railroad equipment, for the simple reason, that once a seizure begins, there is no way to stop or control it.

3 seconds is to long for a seziure to last, and say you are capable of controling your vehicle safely!!! I, for one, do not want you sharing the road with me, with my nephew, or with my neighbors, if you drive truck for a living and have a history of siezure's, minor or not!

Yup, I have to agree with StevenD, well said.

[1jcc]

How many seconds would a safe seizure be

Controlled seizure = no seizures uncontrolled seizures = seizure for 1 second, 2 or 30 seconds. We are not talking about drivers that black out once a year or once every 5 or more.
If a drivers seizure was goose bumps and it in now controlled he does not lose any motor skills. You lose more than that when you sneeze.
Have you had a CT, MRI, MRA, EEG, SDEEG? If no, you are more unsafe than the one who did and all is normal.

1jcc I have to DISAGREE with you there. I have been seen by lets see here the Mayo Clinic the Mincep Clinic and right now am under the care of Rush Presb hospital Epilepsy clinic my doc there went to school at Havard then interned and took residency at JOhns HOpkins and EVERYONE OF MY MRI'S CT'S AND PET AND EEGS AND VEEG'S HAVE BEEN 100% FREAKING NORMAL. My avarge seizure lasts 3 Minutes my first one September 20 2000 happened in NV just east of Wendover NV at the 300 yard line and I almost put my truck over the cliff there. If not for my now EX wife I would be dead she fought me for control and stopped the truck and called for help.

I also have no aura's and no clue when the next one is coming on. Just because right now you are not having them does not mean you will not have them in the future. If you do not come off the road I will report you personally to the FMCSA via this board and they can trace you down and they will pull you off the road those REGS ARE THERE FOR A FREAKING REASON YOU IDOIT. I could have done what you are proposing but did not for the simple reason no life is worth my GREED YES LOSING YOUR TRUCK WILL HURT BUT THINK OF YOUR WIFE AND KIDS WOULD THEY RATHER HAVE YOU AROUND OR JUST MEMORIES.

[Orangetxguy]

Originally Posted by 1jcc

Controlled seizure = no seizures uncontrolled seizures = seizure for 1 second, 2 or 30 seconds. We are not talking about drivers that black out once a year or once every 5 or more.
If a drivers seizure was goose bumps and it in now controlled he does not lose any motor skills. You lose more than that when you sneeze.
Have you had a CT, MRI, MRA, EEG, SDEEG? If no, you are more unsafe than the one who did and all is normal.

As a matter of fact, I have had CT scan, MRI scans, and EEG's. Not to find out about a source of seizures, but rather to find the source of a continueous headache. They discovered I had a beinien(sp) tumor in my right sinus cavity. After surgery and recovery, I had to pass 3 separate physicals, before regaining my medical card. 45 minutes doing a stress test, to determine vulorability to seizures is a tough test.

As for my nephew, he has more CT and MRI's than you and I have had or will have in our life I am sure, especially since, he has 2 per year, every year. He is 25 now.

[StevenD]

Iron Eagle, you display exactly what I warn 1jcc about; fellow truckers who think they know how you should live your life. Ignore them, especially the idoit (excuse me, correct spelling is IDIOT) who says he is going to turn you in. Let him hyperventilate.

Incidently, you, me, nor anyone, can determine when they are going to have a siezure. Just check out the statistics and web information about how many people have sudden, unexplained siezures. Its phenominal. In addition, there are a LOT of people who once on an AED (anti-epileptic drug) have no other siezures the remainder of their life. This also, is medical evidence ignored by those making our traffic laws.

Ironeagle, you need to research your condition more and not target others who are struggling to adjust to life with it.

StevenD

[allan5oh]

Well it's very simple, nobody here is a doctor. NO ONE here is qualified to say this driver is safe, and this driver is unsafe.

HOWEVER, attempting to go around LEGITIMATE laws that were put in place for a reason can land you in the slammer! Imagine if you get into an accident, doesn't even have to be your fault, you could go to jail for YEARS!

StevenD as someone that has Epilepsy and devolped it at almost 25 years of age I feel like I have something to offer here. When I had my first one I felt like why me and I could go right back to driving OTR and would hide it yet the DOT and my state would not let me. Now 7 years later I see THEIR WISDOM IN NOT LETTING ME DOING SO. Yes I have never had another seizure while driving YET however I had just finished driving my wife and kids to my father-in-laws in Chicago from my house and had a Grand mal seizure with no warning. I am also on the strongest meds out there to control them.

1jcc needs to realize his OTR driving career is OVER hiding it will make it worse when he does have a sezure while driving just because he has not yet does not mean he will not and when he does more than likely he will have a very serve accident. Once he does and it comes out he was hiding his conditon the local DA will throw the BOOK at him. I asked my moblie home park owner who BTW is a major Law Firm owner in Chicago specializing in Personal Injury what would happen if an Epileptic who was hiding his condition was driving a Semi OTR and had a Fatal accident. He told me flat out his client would OWN THE Company he was leased to if an O/O or driving for by the time he was done with them. It is not worth risking your life over it or anyone elses life.

[StevenD]

Who more than the driver should be concerned about safety? You can assume all you want, based upon years of experience or just plain opinion, whether your condition applies to every driver out there. I, for one, would not dare such an illusion of my own opinion. I know, as you should, that one guy will turn to the left, one to the right, and who knew that the one who turned to the right was going to crash? You also assume far too much that his chances of crashing are increased because of his having a seizure in the past. Look up just hope many people have seizures for no apparent reason. Another point is, just who is the greatest danger on the road? Your situation has given you a particular view, even qualified, but does not apply to everyone who has had a seizure. Not even close.

Back to the main point: If as a driver, one feels his medical condition endangers himself or others then as a matter of conscience he should find another line of work. This I recognize as my opinion. To state that a person should not be driving if he has similar symptoms that keep you off the road, is again, assuming your principals should apply to every situation. This just doesn't work in the real world. Just look at all the overwieght drivers we have, how are they passing a medical?

For everyone, don't jump to conclusions and responses that make 'one of our own' feel as if he is an outcast. There is hope, and if he truly loves to drive then he can look into options. To me, it seems as if 1jcc has done a good amount of research and is trying to work through a difficult choice.

StevenD