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Hi Celia,=20 You wrote:=20 >At a recent Management Committee Meeting of the Victorian Parkinson's= Assoc. >(Australia), there was a lot of controversy when the Co-0rdinator suggested >voluntary driving assessment tests by an occupational therapist. We'd= heard >how one of our members had his license cancelled by his overly zealous GP= who >contacted the Motor Vehicle Dept. and told them he has PD. Also, someone= said >that if you're in an accident and haven't informed your insurance company= prior >to that accident that you have PD, they might choose not to cover your= expenses >and liability. >The Younger Parkies feel especially threatened to think that their >independence, namely the use of their car so vital to their employment,= could >be taken away from them. I can certainly relate to that, but I know how= I'd >also feel if a member of my family were killed because the driver had an >uncontrollable, severe tremor which caused him to lose control of the wheel= or >he dozed off momentarily as a result of depletion of medication. >I'm curious about how we stand legally (though the US laws could be very >different that those in Australia) as well as how people feel morally about= the >situation I'll have to rewrite my poem snowflakes, in which I write that we're like snowflakes : all different. =20 or write a new one called clones, in which I write that we are all the same. Last year we had the same discussion and the same problems about license, insurance and testing or not. We published three articles in our magazine about thid subject. Another rumour: when you are stopped at a traffic control and they (the police) discover you have PD, they will take your driverslicense from you. And also the younger ones felt threatened because of thinking, loosing their "holy Cow". Two people=20 independent from another found out that an insurance company can refuse a patient, but it seldom occurs. One should be medical tested and has to make a testdrive. It is not hard to get your driverslicense. What surprised us, were the costs. Total costs various between (a guilder is ca USA$,067) =83250 - =83325 and no insurance or wellfair. The difference was caused by the fee of the neurologist : =83119-=83200.=20 Inquiry learned us and the neurologist that the fee is not various but mad by law =83119 Letters were written to the editor and I had several phonecalls from angry people who told me they were good drivers.=20 We also wrote to the chamber of insurances and we received a letter with an explanation (summary 8) For the last article I made a summary and had a phonecall with an officer of the police department with special interest : traffic and driving. She told me : If somebody is stopped by a traffic control, (s)he will not be judgest at the fact (s)he has PD, but if (s)he drives well. The responsibility of driving is for the driver itself. Nevertheless, if some drives and does strange and dangerous things (s)he will be stopped. SO FEEL RESPONSIBLE. We ended the articles with an overview : 1) It is your own responsibility 2) When the quality of your driving is decreasing you must report it. 3) a driverslicense is not valid when you can't drive normally 4) With Automatic Gear and power steering driving is much easier and one can keep on driving longer. These cars are more expensive but in many cases a compensation is possible. 5) We will distribute a folder. 6) Costs are at highest =83250.= 7) The new drivers license is for 1,3 or 5 years (depends on the drivers situation) 8) inform your insurance agency by written letter and expect a similar reaction. If the insurance company refuges you, you can change from company.=20 Personal view: Take all your other insurances with you, if you are forced to switch= companies I like driving my car. I drive a middle class car (for European measures) and have switched to automatic gear and power steering and I shoul have done it years ago. I like fast driving but in Holland we have a speed limit of 120 km/h. Nevertheless I drive sometimes 170-180 km/h but withou taking any risks. In Germany there is no speed limit and it is marvellous driving in this country, but don't be surprised when you're driving 180km/h and somebody is flashing his lights because he wants to pass you and seemed to get fired when you're made his way free. To be honest: I drove 65,000 km within 2.5 years and had three accidents. The first time I hit somebody at his back because he stopped very suddenly, but it was my fault, I should have anticipated better. The second time tried a sportscar to pass a parked car while I was coming from the opposite side. The road was two cars wide, so you can imagine what happened. no blame on me. The third time was on the highway. We had Traffic Jam and were about to stop when a lady approached me to fast 60-80 km/h. She had fallen asleep and I couldn't go anywhere. But stil I sometimes wonder if I haven' t had PD should I................. Kees Paap P.S. 1: I'm still working on the tulips, but probably we have a contact= soon. P.S. 2: I will be on vacation from july 13-august 3. Heading for the mountains at the border of France and Spain : 1200 km from my place (the middle of Holland) P.S. 3: I must answer some letters, but I'm afraid it will have to wait till august. Enjoy the Summer Kees <[log in to unmask]>