• State laws regarding drivers with epilepsy are designed to protect the public.driving 4 image by Andrzej Borowicz from Fotolia.com
  
  Epilepsy is a brain disorder that causes seizures and other physiological and psychological symptoms. When a brief-but-strong surge of electrical activity occurs in part or all of the brain, a seizure is the result. Seizures can last anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes and render its victim confused, disoriented and physically exhausted. Because a person becomes nearly or completely incapacitated during and after, driving is an extremely dangerous activity for someone with active seizures. Each state has specific rules regarding the driving rights of people with epilepsy.
  
  

Basic Rules for U.S. Drivers with Epilepsy

• The rules for driving with a diagnosis of epilepsy (defined by a person having two or more unprovoked seizures) vary by state, but several of the rules are standard throughout the United States. All 50 states restrict a person's driver's license if they have seizures not controlled by medication, and all states have their own standards for how and when a driver's license can be obtained. Your state determines whether or not you are permitted to drive, not your doctor, though you will likely have to provide proof from your doctor that your epilepsy is being treated and your seizures are under control. Generally speaking, people who have been seizure-free for 12 months or longer have a much smaller risk of being involved in a traffic accident due to epilepsy.
  
  

Reporting Epilepsy and Pennsylvania Driving Laws

• In the entire nation, only six states still require doctors to report epilepsy to the state, typically the department of motor vehicles. Pennsylvania is among those six states. In many cases, the individual's driver's license will be revoked until the individual can provide proof that they are seizure-free. In Pennsylvania, an epilepsy patient must be seizure-free for at least six months in order to obtain or re-obtain a driver's license. In addition, Pennsylvania also requires periodic medical updates once the license has been obtained.
  
  

Exceptions

• In some cases, the state will waive the requirement that the patient be seizure-free by physician's request if the individual has nighttime seizures or seizures that occur mainly when the person first awakes over the period of two years. The requirement may also be waived if the patient has an aura (feelings that range from absolute terror to euphoria) that lets the patient know that a seizure is coming on, thus giving them time to pull over if they are driving. If the patient had previously been seizure-free for six months and a seizure only occurred as the result of a change in medication, trauma or illness, an exception may be made.
  
  

Liability

• Though many people with epilepsy believe that they are capable of driving even if they are experiencing "small" seizures, even the minimal impairment can be catastrophic. According to Langone Medical Center in New York, studies have shown that the rate of motor vehicle accidents is higher for those with epilepsy. In many cases, those involved were driving on revoked licenses or had not sought medical treatment for their seizures.