You have been lucky. My interviewer seem quite ignorant, didn’t seem to know what a CGM is. Oh dear, that reminds me that next year will need to renew again. Last time it was a complete hassel.
UPDATE!!!
Please refer back to the previous postings to get the whole story…
I was able to speak with a human being at DMV in the city that i live in. This person did not have any medical creditials either and it making decisions for the state of california. At the hearning I presented him with paperwork from my doctors office stating that nobody from the DMV contacted their offices as to confirm my A1C level. This of course made no different that the person in El Segundo perhaps fibbed a little on her report about me. Afterwards, it too the new DMV representative 3 weeks to send a message that I had my drivers license reinstated and I was on medical probation #3. So I have send medical reports in for 6 months.
this person also stated they were going to have my license reissued to me which never happened. I had to go to the local DMV and explain the situation to them. They had to call sacremento and the medical bureau the verify everything. they were trying to make me take the driving test over when technically i didn’t need to.
Do drunk drivers have to so the same thing? Do they have to submit reports of sobriety or classes?
I already submitted one report by mail. I haven’t heard anything from DMV. I assume no news is good news. So if all is well I have to send another report in the next few months to DMV and hope this nightmare is over.
Lesson learned…do not tell the exact truth about your medical situation to DMV. They seem to treat drunk drivers and nondocumented people with more compassion than working folks trying to make a living.
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Christalyn, so glad you are able to drive again. What an enormous hassle this whole thing has been.
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I’m so sorry, christalyn. My license was revoked in 2014 in California because I asked my endocrinologist for advice. I had a seizure while sleeping, and wanted advice on what might have caused that. He didn’t help me, reported me to the dmv, and then refused to sign the paperwork until I got my hba1c down. I said lowering my hba1c was more likely to result in hypos, but he insisted. Personally, I think he was trying to extort me into taking better care of myself, but that was never going to work. It took me 2 years and a change of insurance to find a doctor who cared about my quality of life more than covering their own ***. Hopefully if your doctor is on your side, it should be easier. After my experience, I told my husband we were treating night hypos at home with glucagon rather than calling 911 because I cant lose my license again, and I have never in 20 years had a seizure while awake. It’s not ideal, but the system sometimes forces us to make bad choices.
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Good info. Sorry your doc was a diabetic police officer.
Had similar issue with blood pressure many years ago.
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I moved to Chicago 18 years ago in order to never drive a car again. While this wasn’t for Diabetes (I just HATE cars!) it has reduced my stress and I believe has kept my diabetes in the low 7’s (currently 7.3) even with keeping genetic heart disease away!
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OMG!! I am so sorry to hear about your situation. That is totally crazy. My doctor is very interactive and for the most part has been supportive. Its been California DMV that has been acting stupidly. They don’t force regular fat people to loose weight for medical reasons. I don’t see why we have to be threathen with our diabetic condition to loose weight.
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They also labeled me as “diabetes moderately out of control” when I was first diagnosed with a A1C of 7.1. I have had a few low blood sugar attacks at least 6 years before I was diagnosed with diabetes. One where I almost passed out after I made it to a shipper I was delivering to in Laredo Texas. I was shaking and weak. I didn’t know what was going on at the time, so I had 911 on speed dial as a slowly drove myself back to the truck stop and sat in the air-conditioned movie room and drank a large cup of fruit punch. All returned to normal after an hour and I never really thought much of it again until I was diagnosed with diabetes a few years later. These days, if I eat certain foods, with or without insulin, I will have a reactive hypo event at least 3-5 hours later. If I eat a bowl of cereal, or any kind of sweet that goes into my system really fast, a reactive hypo will come. It’s almost guaranteed. It happens even faster if I use insulin with these meals, and really fast if I am physically active after these meals. I have to keep on watching and waiting for the low. But at least I know it’s coming. Maybe they think you are going to get low BG when driving. I hope you can get a lawyer or someone to help you fight this, because it’s not fair. You do not seem to be a danger to anyone at this point in time. It’s discrimination. Hang in there.
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In the above post I was writing to Young at heart and the original poster of this thread.
Yes I have heard about this years ago. In California they don’t like diabetics driving. They are completely in the opinion that diabetics should not be behind the wheel.
A different experience with CA DMV. I am a T2 (A1c diagnosis at 12.) 10 years.
I moved to CA 7 years ago and checked the diabetes box. At that. Time my A1c was 7,0 and I was off meds.
All they asked was if I was on BG lowering medications. I said no.
License approved. I renewed my license at age 70. A1c 6,0 no meds They asked the same question, I gave the same answer, no meds.
License renewed.
The benefit of being able to do low carb to control.
Yes I know this does not work work for T1’s, the person who first posted was listed as a t2.
The silly thing they allow drunk driver’s to continously keep driving and being arrested. They are full of bolony
Thank God you got it back. We were talking about this months ago, I think. I have my license, but I am required to do pretty serious (and expensive) paperwork procedures. On the DMV side, they haven’t even been able to mail me a replacement license, which I applied for in July. In 5 months, they haven’t even been able to mail me a new license. I have vastly lowered expectations for the DMV. I think of them as critically disabled. Give them NOTHING. Expect NOTHING. If they want to talk to you, consider bringing a cheap lawyer (or just a friend who looks good in a suit who can unofficially pretend to be a lawyer and take notes the whole time - that might help.)
P.S. A guy I know in town here got a DUI - hit two cars while driving down the highway and fled the scene. I think its his 3rd DUI. His license was revoked for 1 year, but he could have gotten it back sooner if he paid money. Mine is conditional for 2 years - and costs a lot more to maintain and requires a ton more effort and paperwork on my end. So, you are kinda right.
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“In California, the Dmv hearing is usually done by an individual who has significant medical Knowledge.”
The last time I renewed, I went round and round, here in Calif. It took forever and culminated in an interview by someone who didn’t even know what a CGM is. Time to renew it again, don’t look forward to the hassle. Too late not to check taking insulin, it is already on my record.
First, I lived in Calif until recently and never checked the box just because it didn’t seem like a good idea. But it was easy not to “lie” as Calif states it as do you have a medical condition like diabetes among other things that could affect your ability to drive. Well that’s a no for me as it hasn’t ever affected my ability to drive.
And 20% or so of the population has diabetes? So California has an issue or any state for 20% of their population? And a lot of people in California drive without licenses and it’s virtually just a fine, even if they get in an accident. I know that as someone with a suspended license totaled my husbands car and he just got another ticket. And in Calif most people just take off after an accident ( a lot of illegals and no license holders) and the police really don’t care unless someone was killed.
The CA wording is specifically:
Have you had any medical condition in the last three (3) years affecting your ability to drive?
I would imaging some people with diabetes should truthfully answer YES to this, and some people should truthfully answer NO.
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UPDATE: We have a bill coming up in MN to repeal “discriminatory licensing processes for diabetics.” If ours passes, maybe CA will too. This is my letter to them. license letter_Identifiable_Removed.docx (1.2 MB)
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Long letter (lol) but good. It makes sense.
I have not, in 25 years of being diabetic, ever had a Doctor declare me medically unfit to drive.
For me, this is the crux of the issue. Driving is a right, not a privilege. There are serious public safety issues involved. A person who operates a motor vehicle on the public roads who is not medically fit to drive puts everybody around them at risk.
There are a multitude of conditions which depending on how they impact an individual would make that person unsafe to drive and unsafe for all the drivers around them.
I agree with you that it makes zero sense to single out Diabetes while potentially ignoring a multitude of other conditions that may pose equally serious risks. As well, having a non-medical person or somebody in the DMV making any sort of a decision as this is just crazy.
Doctors should be held accountable for identifying persons (and proactively notifying DMV) who in their professional medical judgement are unsafe to drive FOR ANY MEDICAL REASON.
This is the law (Docs required to report drivers medically unsafe to drive) in many other US States and it seems to work relatively well.
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I am always taken aback by rules that force a diabetic off the road for simply being diabetic when the same system will allow a habitual DUI offender to remain on the road. A diabetic can be denied a licence when a person with a much more dangerous disease, alcoholism, is allowed by the court system to keep their’s time and time again.
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NJ doesn’t specifically ask about diabetes, only asks if you have a medical condition that causes impairment. I answer no because my diabetes is very well controlled and doesn’t cause an impairment.
A few years ago they rolled out a voluntary “insulin dependent diabetic designation” on the driver’s license or ID cards. It requires a form signed by your doctor.
“Why might I want my insulin-dependent diabetes to be designated on my driver’s license or non-driver identification card?”
" The information will be used by law enforcement officials or emergency medical professionals to identify a person as an insulin-dependent diabetic and provide the person with necessary medical attention should that individual be unable to communicate due to a diabetic seizure."
How about thanks, but no thanks!