Do you drive? If so, how much?

[gavin86]

Just wondering since I started driving again (just spent 6wks in hospital, the last few days being the newly acquired t1).

Around here your bgl must be above 5 to be allowed to. Which sucks because 4 is supposedly normal.

Anyway, had my first low reading when wanting to drive. I was out already, alone, stuck (Thursday night, dark, quiet area).
Here you also have to wait 15-20mins if you go low before driving.
All up it took me an hour before I could drive!

I'm a very car-oriented person (in terms of utility, also part of my job), but I think the biggest direct impact diabetes has had on me so far is me considering giving it up, or at least greatly reducing it.

So what about you and your driving?

 

[urbanracer]

We all follow the same rules @gavin86 . I drive 35 miles to work and once went hypo suddenly on way, had to wait in a layby for a while and was thankful of the lucozade that I always keep in the car. Have also been stuck at work not able to drive home for a couple of hours after normal finishing time. All part of the fun.[/QUOTE]

 

[Tony337]

Hi Gavin
I drive a lot and religiously check my sugars before setting off on any journey.
Good control means less surprises so if your new to type 1 do a test 2 hours before you are due to set off then this gives you chance to put right any wrongs then obviously check again before you set off.
I've been type 1 since 6 and driven since 17 and am now 49 and i don't mean that to sound smug just its not a problem taking the precautions i take.
Best of luck and feel free to ask further.

Tony

 

[Resurgam]

We found out our neighbours are Type 1 when one dark evening there was a mighty bang outside and found that their car was on the pavement rather than the road, and our front wall had been cracked.
Fortunately the major damage was to the car, the wall was rebuilt and they were only bruised but unaware of what had happened until brought home from hospital next day.
There had been some problem with a meal and they were both hypo when they arrived back in the street, and the car was driven straight ahead, into the wall.
Yes it must be a nuisance to have to test and if necessary wait to be legally on the road, but we live on a quiet cul de sac just yards from a main road and close to dual carriageways - a few minutes earlier and there could have been a really bad accident, a few minutes later and they could have been lying on the floor all night, which has happened a few times.

 

[noblehead]

All up it took me an hour before I could drive!

That seems like a long-time, maybe carry some liquid glucose in your car like GlucoJuice or Lucozade (check the label and make sure it's not the reduce sugar).

I'm a very car-oriented person (in terms of utility, also part of my job), but I think the biggest direct impact diabetes has had on me so far is me considering giving it up, or at least greatly reducing it.

No need to do that as diabetes doesn't stop you from driving, with the right preparation and forward-thinking it's like anything that can be overcome.

Around here your bgl must be above 5 to be allowed to. Which sucks because 4 is supposedly normal.

5 is sensible and gives a little leeway, with active insulin on board (and even an incorrect basal) bg levels can soon drop @gavin86

 

[TorqPenderloin]

I'm from the USA where there aren't silly rules like needing to have a bg level above 5mmol/l (~90mg/dl).

Driving and CONTROLLED type 1 should not be an issue. On a weekly basis, I fly for work, rent a car, and drive in a city I'm usually unfamiliar with. It's simply not an issue.

 

[Bluetit1802]

I'm from the USA where there aren't silly rules like needing to have a bg level above 5mmol/l (~90mg/dl).

Driving and CONTROLLED type 1 should not be an issue. On a weekly basis, I fly for work, rent a car, and drive in a city I'm usually unfamiliar with. It's simply not an issue.

Not everyone is controlled, and human error also plays a big part. In my view the driving rules in the UK are one of the instances where "one size fits all" is very sensible. I have been a passenger in a car driven by a T1 who had a hypo. It was not pleasant. For the safety of the driver, passengers, and other road users, I believe a rule about levels is necessary and "don't drive if under 5" sounds about right to me. OK I'm not on insulin myself, but I am a road user.

 

[TorqPenderloin]

Not everyone is controlled, and human error also plays a big part. In my view the driving rules in the UK are one of the instances where "one size fits all" is very sensible. I have been a passenger in a car driven by a T1 who had a hypo. It was not pleasant. For the safety of the driver, passengers, and other road users, I believe a rule about levels is necessary and "don't drive if under 5" sounds about right to me. OK I'm not on insulin myself, but I am a road user.

"I've been the passenger in a car driven by an elderly person who had an accident. For the safety of road users, I believe no one over the age of 65 should be able to drive." Do you see how silly that sounds? That's even something I can statistically prove by looking at the ages of drivers who caused wrecks and deciding at what age they become more of a threat. Even still, it's silly.

The flaw in that logic is that it's taking two things that are correlated and making an incorrect assumption that it's a direct cause/effect.

The problem I have is that there's absolutely nothing scientific about the arbitrary "5 mmol/l" rule. Scientifically, I'm no more of a threat driving if my levels are constantly at 4 mmol/l or 5 mmol/l. I say that as someone who is extremely well-controlled and spends a good part of the day between 70-90 mg/dl (or about 3.9mmol/l to 5 mmol/l). That's just my body's natural fasting level range.

 

[azure]

I dont think the OP is in the UK @TorqPenderloin and so is subject to different rules.

In the UK, the '5 to drive' is guidance. It clearly doesn't mean that a driver at 5.1 is great but a driver at 4.9 is a liability. It's purely guidance for those on insulin and other drugs with the potential to cause hypoglycaemia. Personally I like to be around 6 to drive as I'm happy to have that cushion even though I have a pump and my control is very good.

The UK rules stress the importance of testing and hypo awareness for drivers on insulin/other meds.

 

[Scott-C]

This discussion reminds me of those training videos of astronauts/divers in a chamber where oxygen/pressure is being changed while they're doing puzzles.

They seem to think they're swinging along nicely, then they're shown the videos afterwards and see they've completely messed them up.

I think a lot of T1s are over-confident about how well they operate at low levels. We think we're doing fine, but a video might show different.

That's one of the major things with low levels: it changes perception. You think you're a-ok, but, in reality, not so much.

I'm wholly in favour of 5 to drive - sure, we're not technically hypo till 4, but I like the buffer zone the extra 1 gives. It protects me and other road/pavement users.

@TorqPenderloin , your take on @Bluetit1802 s post is caddish, sir! I demand you apologise or it will be pistols at dawn! Or maybe driving a car with a clutch instead of an automatic!

Bluetit said she been in a car with a hypoing T1, which is, in my view, a dangerous situation.

You then seem to quote it back, but not really, switching a few words to suggest being driven by an old person who has an accident means all 65 yr olds should be banned from driving.

The two situations are not even remotely comparable.

65 yr olds can have accidents which have nothing to do with age. No-one is talking about banning them. Whereas T1s can have accidents because they're too low.

Which is why the UK has said 5 is a bright line cut-off point instead of leaving it to individuals to figure out what they think is right for them. I'm not a socialist on any view, but sometimes there needs to be a strict view which we all agree to lest anyone gets killed.

 

[saruhbeau]

I love driving. I am 26 and been driving almost 8 years. T1 for 19 years.

Up until a few years ago being in a long distance relationship I used to drive 330 miles from south east to Northumberland, up to 3 times a month.

I have always driven while being diagnosed t1 so I don't know anythingdifferent a d it certainly doesn't stop me. I have good hypo awareness. I always test before driving and test every 2 hours if it's a long journey. If I am between 5 and 8ish I will test more frequently. I generally like to be between 6 and 8 to drive but will also drive if my bg is higher. High blood glucose doesn't affect my ability to drive, if I am high I am more conservative with my correction dose as not to drop too low. If I am under 5 I wait at least 45 mins as that is the guidelines. Yes that can be a pain if I am about to go to work and it makes me slightly late but it rarely happens and I look at it as just being one of those things.

I always keep glucojuce or jelly babies in the car.

Don't let diabetes put you off driving! Unless you have no hypo awareness or vision issues there is no reason to let it stop you

 

[gavin86]

Thanks.
Yes I'm in Australia. Not sure about elsewhere but here you must be above 5 or else accident/injury insurance won't cover you (and more worryingly, the other people's stuff.. My car is worth nothing, but if I hit something nice I'd be paying for it for decades!). Pretty sure it is a condition of keeping your licence too, along with medical review every 2 years. 5 may be arbitrary, but they had to choose some number I suppose.

I don't think I'll stop driving. If I have other options at times though I'll certainly consider them.. I'm not sure why I'm feeling this way about it really. It's not really in character for me.
Maybe once I am more confident & stable with my BGLs it won't seem such an issue.

 

[phdiabetic]

Aussie here too! When I just did MDI/finger pricks, I always checked before I drove and had a snack if I was lower than 5. Now that I have a CGM, I am perfectly happy to drive in the 4's. I will pull over if I am in the low 4's, if my numbers are decreasing, or if I feel low. I keep a close eye on my numbers when driving, will eat/drink if I think it's necessary, and am generally well controlled. I think 'above 5 to drive' is a decent rule for most people with diabetes, especially if they are poorly controlled or do not check their blood sugar often, but I believe I am capable of assessing for myself whether I am able to drive safely or not at various blood sugar levels. For example, I would prefer to drive with a flat 4.9 than a rapidly dropping 6.0 (in fact, I would probably pull over if I saw a 6.0 with a down arrow on my dexcom). I drive infrequently because I can usually get a lift with other people, and when I do drive it is usually a short distance.

 

[GrantGam]

Interesting reading guys, healthy debate is the best

The below quote is guidance directly lifted from the following:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/assessing-fitness-to-drive-a-guide-for-medical-professionals

"In each case if your blood glucose is 5.0mmol/l or less, take a snack. If lt is less than 4.0mmol/l or you feel hypoglycaemic, do not drive."

So what I take from the above is that 4mmol/l is the legal minimum requirement for driving in the UK (for those applicable of course) and 5mmol/l or above is advised. 5mmol/l or greater is sound advice in my opinion and I personally wouldn't feel comfortable driving with a BG less than that. The rules also state that you must wait 45 minutes after bringing BG back above 4mmol/l following a hypo. Let's face it, going from 4.5mmol/l to 3.9mmol/l is very easy and often very quick. And because I don't have expendable 45 minute periods when taking a 5 minute drive to get milk - I just run my BG a little higher for driving...

So worry not @TorqPenderloin, if you come here for your holibobs - then you'll technically be okay driving with a BG of 4mmol/l. You may have issues with the stick shifting though...

 

[Resurgam]

Having seen the state of my neighbours after the crash it was rather frightening - the medics thought that they might have taken something, or been affected by a leak of exhaust gasses into the car.
They had emergency glucose in the car, but were totally unable to interact with reality by the time they reached our street.

 

[TorqPenderloin]

So worry not @TorqPenderloin, if you come here for your holibobs - then you'll technically be okay driving with a BG of 4mmol/l. You may have issues with the stick shifting though...

Do people in the UK really think that we don't know how to drive a stick in the USA? I ask because it was mentioned twice in this thread lol.

Honestly, this conversation is absolutely foreign to me (quite literally). Obviously, we all agree that driving with a hypo is dangerous and no one has ever suggested otherwise, but I've never met a single person with type 1 here in the USA who didn't drive as a result of their diabetes. It must be a cultural difference.

 

[fletchweb]

Just wondering since I started driving again (just spent 6wks in hospital, the last few days being the newly acquired t1).

Around here your bgl must be above 5 to be allowed to. Which sucks because 4 is supposedly normal.

Anyway, had my first low reading when wanting to drive. I was out already, alone, stuck (Thursday night, dark, quiet area).
Here you also have to wait 15-20mins if you go low before driving.
All up it took me an hour before I could drive!

I'm a very car-oriented person (in terms of utility, also part of my job), but I think the biggest direct impact diabetes has had on me so far is me considering giving it up, or at least greatly reducing it.

So what about you and your driving?

Although the BG level is not a law where I live - my local diabetes education center recommends the same thing. I keep a variety of glucose edibles in the car in the event that my sugars suddenly drop. I also keep a Glucometer with me in the car in the event that it feels like my BGs are dropping and I need to take preventative action. Very seldom has it ever been an issue for me.

Like @TorqPenderloin - Canada is the same way. I've never met a single person with type 1 here in Canada who didn't drive as a result of their diabetes.

 

[tim2000s]

To be honest, as a uk person, I've never thought about not driving as a result of T1D and there is nothing I know of to suggest why you shouldn't. I'd suggest that it's a very personal decision.

 

[catapillar]

I don't think "I have diabetes, I better not drive" is at all a common thought in the uk. On diagnosis one of first things they tell you to do is inform DVLA and give you a brief on how to drive safely on insulin. I too have not heard of anyone choosing not to drive because of their diabetes, it appears the OP is anxious about driving but that's probably more general anxiety following diagnosis, I was anxious about going back to the gym after diagnosis, I followed tips on how to do that safely and grew a pair and got on with it (sorry, I just mean don't let the anxiety let diabetes be the winner, take a breath and realise it's normal to be anxious on diagnosis).

I'm not allowed to drive because I'm hypo unaware. In the uk if you're on insulin you need to maintain adequate hypo awareness to be allowed to drive a car. I was sad to have to surrender my driving licence, but I don't have symptoms when my blood sugar is low. I can be fine, fine, fine, pass out. The worst that's happened with that is I once passed out and kicked over a full length mirror to wake up in a pile of glass. It doesn't bear thinking about what could have happened had I been anywhere near a steering wheel. So the not allowed to drive if hypo unaware seems like a sensible safety rule to me, a person who is directly disadvantaged by the rule.

 

[Scott-C]

Do people in the UK really think that we don't know how to drive a stick in the USA? I ask because it was mentioned twice in this thread lol.

Easy, man, it's just a bit of good natured wind-up from the old country!