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Caught speeding whilst having a hypo

J

JamseyT1D

Member
Messages
24
Hi I was recently driving and I done 25 in a 20 and received a speeding fine my blood sugar had dropped a little low so my head wasn’t all with it, I was on a busy road and whilst looking for somewhere to pull over for a while I was snapped by a speeding camera I didnt need any assistance during this hypo it was just a normal unfortunate low blood sugar moment everyone has them any advice is welcome
 
Re the ticket : take the speeding course if you're offered it, or pay the fixed penalty. Don't bother contesting it, and definitely don't mention hypo because though you may think it's an excuse for the speeding, it's also an excuse for getting your licence taken away.

Re the hypo - you might want to consider running a higher BSL when driving to avoid this kind of mistake. DVLA rules are test every two hours, and you need to plan so in between tests, your BSL isn't even going to get close to hypo. Even if you didn't get as far as needing assistance, you can lose a lot of cognitive ability with a hypo, which can make it as bad as driving drunk. Although a hypo when not driving is as you describe not a huge deal, you need to put the effort in to never get them while driving, because that's a massive deal.

As usual I'll mention libre or other CGM - makes testing lots easier (if you have the dedicated reader or a suitable passenger - illegal to use the phone while driving). Miaomiao means you could have an alarm too, though again you mustn't touch the phone if it goes off.
 

Agree with the replies above. I infer from your post that you drove, and/or continued to drive whilst knowingly in a state of hypoglycemia and you are admitting that you weren't in full control of your vehicle. You are fortunate not to be facing a charge of dangerous driving which is an imprisonable offence.

Consider paying the speeding fine as 'getting away with it'
 
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Dangerous driving .... so you means to tell me you’ve never had a blood sugar drop between 5.0 from just simply having a unit to much of insulin with a meal whilst driving ? You are seriously that perfect. I asked for some advice on the situation not to be told about about dangerous driving and as for driving in a hypo state what am I meant to do slam the breaks on in the middle of the road and just say no not driving must of drove for around 30-40 seconds before I pulled over don’t be so high and mighty next time mate thankyou very much for the pointless reply
 

Can’t get libra or CGM as quoted from the NHS “your bloods aren’t bad enough to get this new type of equipment” and its nothing to do with my bsl and things like that I was coming back from a meal I simply had around a unit to much with my meal I drove for around 30-40 seconds before pulling up and within that time I was unfortunate enough to be snapped just unlucky moment I suppose
 

Hi there, Can I ask, what was your reading just before driving and how long had you been driving before you felt the symptoms, that is bad luck if you were 5 say and then it's dropped rapidly. What was it when you pulled over?, was it an actually hypo or just on the low side?
 
Oh the ironies in this post

no you can't use a hypo as an excuse for being caught speeding and then being 'told off' for breaking the law by someone whos avatar is a motor bike rider with the name urbanracer

I believe the DVLA say if you are driving and feel hypo to pull over as soon as safely possible and to check or words to that effect so you did the right thing - perhaps just a bit too quickly!

Everyone take care out there.
 

Thankyou very much literally the only person who has spoke sense on this thread came on here for advice I’ve been told I deserve prison my control all wrong and should see a doctor some crazy people out there apart from you pal XD
 

I didn’t say my blood dropped within 40 seconds my blood dropping below five so say in the lower fours I class as a hypo because I can feel myself change as in begin to get the signs of a hypo you understand my bloods before I started driving were around 6.4 I’d been driving about half an hour 40 mins I felt a bit funny and could feel I was beginning to have a hypo or for the simpler lot a lower blood sugar than normal and decided to pull over somewhere as I was more focused on somewhere to pull over I was caught going five MPH over the limit and was clocked by a hidden speed camera when I pulled over my blood was around 4.3........
THROW ME IN PRISON!!!!!!!!! I deserve tooo swingggggg ......

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I'm surprised you get anyone wanting to help you with posts like this. I was actually trying to help you but never mind, it sounds like you are trying to use your diabetes as an excuse to get off with 3 penalty points and a fine. Good luck with that.

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Can I just let everyone know for all this diabetics out here I’ve been going on 18 years now with type 1 and the definition of a hypo is blood sugar lower than normal it’s not a specific number a lot say hypo is classed with the 4s or lower just cause your not fitting on the floor and needing assistance of a paramedic doesn’t mean you are not having a hypo

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Lighten up if you want sympathy.

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Well you weren’t as what you have asked simply had nothing to do with the question I had asked and I’ve already had enough people dictated what I should do some even say surprise I’m not done for dangerous driving you wanted to help simply you could of said no the chances are there is nothing you can do ....
 
Don't get upset, everyone is just trying to point out you are lucky to have not got caught driving with a low. If you dropped fast or too low it is dangerous to be behind the wheel.

Keep candy to grab easily so you can start chewing a piece right away before you get too low. Start out higher or play if safer with dosing if you know you are going to be driving after. (Or chew some candy to make sure you are high enough) That would be especially true if you don't feel it until it is too low.

But pay the ticket, because saying anything about being low could get your license pulled.
 

That was because I was after further information before letting you know what I thought you could do!
 
I'm actually not sure what initially you were asking? It is not really clear what help you wanted? You just described what happened and asked for advice. But about what exactly do you want advice on?
 
My understanding is that in the UK there is a legal definition of too low to drive for someone who is treated with blood glucose lowering drugs such as insulin. My understanding this is 4.0mmol/l.
However, I also understand different people experience hypo symptoms at different levels depending what their body is used to.
And I don't think there is a legal minimum for people not treated with BG lowering drugs.

I agree with others not to mention your low if you want to contest your speeding fine as it may open a can of worms even though it was above 4.0mmol/l.
 
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