This happened in Des Moines. The Drivers Blood Sugar got too low.
http://www.kcci.com/news/20490656/detail.html
Josh
How sad,awful,but how do they know this was d related?
thats sad.
i wonder what we would do if someone on here died.
Ah, Courtenay, hopefully that wouldn't happen, knock on wood!
I feel very bad about this accident and all, but also angry that it could cause people to not want to let the rest of us drive. I mean, I test my BS everytime before I drive unless I have very recently before leaving. If I'm at all unsure while I'm driving and am not able to test, I eat some candy just in case. I'd rather be high by being wrong than go low while driving. But, I don't want others' irresponsibility to hinder my legal rights to drive. I think we can all agree that most of us would be out of work and in big trouble w/o a car!!
Of course, I'm just assuming this "complication" they refer to is a low.
Courtenay, um, CRY!!! Really, all you guys are so important to me!!
That's really bad. It's kind of scary to think about stuff like this.
That's awful! I test my blood sugar every time before I get in my car to drive. If I think my blood sugar is gonna get low, I have a snack and make an adjustment for it later if I have to.
[quote user="Courtenay"]
thats sad.
i wonder what we would do if someone on here died.
[/quote]Courtenay don't worry. Hopefully nothing will happen to any of us. All we can do is take the best care of ourselves as we can and hope for the best.
This just happened in Aston PA. A man and his daughter were getting into the car and his sugar went low and he passed out with the car running and him and his daughter died in the garage from the fumes and him going low. The daughter was strapped into her seat, I like she was 4. They had just moved into this house. The wife/mother is left greaving.
[quote user="Sue"]
This just happened in Aston PA. A man and his daughter were getting into the car and his sugar went low and he passed out with the car running and him and his daughter died in the garage from the fumes and him going low. The daughter was strapped into her seat, I like she was 4. They had just moved into this house. The wife/mother is left greaving.
[/quote]That's sad too. :(
My best friends husband, a type 1, rushed out the door to work. He was in a hurry, didn't eat breakfast. While getting shift report the sheriff arrived at the hospital my friend and I work at to notify her that her husband was in a fatal accident. He lost control of his car and hit an oncoming car. Both drivers died. Two months later, my daughter was diagnosed with type 1. She is very good friends with the husband's daughter. She has full knowledge that the accident was a result of low blood sugar, autopsy revealed. Even so, as a 17yo, driving diabetic, I know she does not check her blood sugar before she gets in the car to drive. People can tell me not to "nag" my daughter. That she has to learn to take care and be responsible for her own health. But I feel a HUGE sense of responsibility that my daughter may be dangerous to herself and to others because of casual attitude toward testing her sugar.
This makes me depressed being a diabetic. Worrying that things like this can happend to poeple with diabetes. But we all have to stay strong ! We are not in this alone. Millions of people on this website are fighting too (:
And this is why we are not allowed to get CDL's. They use statistics like this as reasons why Diabetics should not even be on the road period. They assume that we all get in the car and dont care about our sugar or disease. Its like saying we are no better than drunk drivers.
We are not prevented from getting a DL, unless you are talking about a commercial driver's license (I'm speaking only for CA and NV where I have gotten DLs).
When you go to get your license you have to answer a question about having an illness which causes unconciousness. Which you have to check yes. Then there is a second question about do you want a colored alert box on the license. If you choose "yes" to wanting a colored box around your photo that alerts police, emt, etc to a medical condition then you HAVE to bring a written doctor's release to the DMV every year stating your condition is controlled enough for you to drive. If you say "no" then they give you a license.
Doctors and emergency people are required to report any treatment of an unconcious person who is older than 14 years of age to the dmv. If this matched to your license you get called in to answer questions and can possibly be required to providing a yearly release from a doctor to drive.
As far as commercial licenses go...I kind of agree with the limitation. I'm comfortable trusting myself to check each time before I start my car and drive with myself. But I'm not really comfortable in trusting a bus driver responsible for multiple people on his bus stopping to check as needed while trying to keep to a schedule. Plus I've worked in construction for 15+ years so I kind of agree with not having diabetics operating cranes and big equipment.
I can only think about it from a personal perspective. For example I have a degree in Engineering, but I choose to not work in jobs where an unnoticed low might effect other people. I mean we've all had periods when we've not noticed we were low. What if I looked at a revised plan and said that looks good, not knowing my mind was not 100% because I was low, and something got built substandard? I'm not comfortable with that so I choose to work in less immediate jobs.
The best thing I would advise every diabetic who drives to do is request transcripts of one of the many trials where a diabetic drivers has been convicted of murder or vehicular manslaughter for killing someone while driving low. Criminal procedings are public record. all you have to do is request and pay for the transcript of the trial. Reading the expert testimony can be VERY eye opening.
yeah im referring to CDLs
I'm from DSM. I was horrified when I found out the reasons behind the accident--I assumed it was a drunk driving. While the accident is absolutely terrible, I don't feel bad for the driver. He was being irresponsible and now has to live with the consequences of his actions. If I did the same, I would not want people to take pity on me.
Wolf,
Just some information that may be helpful to someone out there.
There is an exception from the FMCSA- (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration) that truck driver's with a CDL-A on insulin can apply for to return to the trucking industry. Here's more info. http://www.diabetes.org/advocacy-and-legalresources/discrimination/CDLFAQ.jspThere may have been updates to this exemption process since first introduced in 2005, I'm not sure. it can take up to 1 year to complete the process though because of the extensive information that is required. NOT all driver's will be granted the exception but all T1's can apply for it. I used to work for a trucking company that's how I know about this regulation.
Wolf-
My dad works as a manager for a trucking company, and there are people who drive for the company that have diabetes. So I'm sure there's a way to get a CDL.