teaching someone who has an L
 

ive a 3/5/6 license, and my cousins daughter just got her L, and she wanted me to take her out and teach her how to drive if possible, when her parents cant take her or are to busy to teach her.

ive had my license for a decade, and would love to teach her if i can. BUT few years ago i got diagnosed with epilepsy (brain surgery in sept to remove it). as is i believe its every 6 months since the last seizure i can drive, but does that go for driving as a passenger while teaching someone? or can i just ride as a passenger and teach regardless? (i rarely have seizures)

my first car when i had a learners(8 years ago) was a 5spd and my cousin taught me how to drive but i dont know if icbc have changed this

Yes, I know we're allowed to teach people to drive, it's the only alternative to a driving school. But I'm asking that with me now having epilepsy, would it be okay for me to instruct her while I'm in the passenger seat, or is that a nono based on my medical status?

best to just call icbc for such a specific question.

Knowing what you are telling us, are you prepaired to risk any consequences that may arrise from you having an episode while a learner driver controls the car? I also believe that is a question that will be asked in any civil or criminal court should something happen.

With that said, I'm only "temporary epileptic" since there's a growth inside my brain that's getting removed in a few months. Upon that, I should be cleared of the title, so what then?

Being only "temporary epileptic" doesn't change the facts. So it boils down to either taking the risks should anything happen while you are teaching her or waiting until after your surgery in September.

As you would be her supervisor you would be considered to have "Care & control" of the vehicle and would be held legally responsible for anything she may do as a result of what could happen. I have charged drunk passengers with impaired driving, while they were acting as supervisors for learner drivers. As the post above said...why are you wanting to expose both of you, and anyone else who may be affected in a crash, to possible danger? Why not wait and the problem is solved? The fact you posted this here shows you know you should not do what you want us to bless.

why not just get her to learn from a driving instructor?

unless your car has the passenger side wheel and emergency brake pedal - - better to be safe than sorry..

Unless things have changed, I understand it that to be an instructor/supervisor you need to be able to legally drive the car yourself, as well as being over 25 with a class 5. So if you're barred from driving, impaired, sleeping, forgot your glasses, etc you can't supervise an L.

If you can't drive due to the seizures, then you effectively don't have a valid license.

If you can hold a drivers license with epilepsy I can't see a reason why you can't teach her how to drive. I would also ask myself whether the risk is worth this persons life. granted you may have seizures rarely, you're still risking the chance of it happening.

I would contact ICBC for more information on this though.

best of luck,

if you have your license, technically you can teach her all you want lol what people here are saying i think is if you had an episode while teaching her and things went south, you're going to be held liable and things would not be good for you.

As much as I appreciate the replies, I think some of you missed when I said "if possible". 6 months with no seizures = me allowed to drive

I never said I am, I'm asking can I. I'm over 25, have a valid license, and was wondering.

If you have a valid class 5 (permitted to drive/not suspended) and are over 25, yes you can teach her.

Not trying to be sarcastic or mean, nor demeaning to somebody with a serious medical condition...BUT if there is no problem then why do you ask us to tell us it's Ok for you to do this? You obviously believe it is a problem or you would never have posted?

Because most people I ask, I get a different answer each time, and since I know you can give probably the most direct knowledgable response, I asked. As far as I'm aware, 6 months free = driving. I'm unsure as to if I was in the waiting stage to 6 months if I could sit beside her and be the "instructor". I can't speak for all people with epilepsy, but for the most part, we know prior before we'll be having one. I can know up to 15 minutes prior.

why put that possible stress and worry on a new driver
i'd simply decline but you know your situation best. is she asking you cause her parents are bad drivers? :p

If you can't drive between 0-6 months then I doubt you can supervise because you effectively don't have a valid license. Its really pretty simple.

Are you over 25?
Do you have a full license?
Are you meeting all your restrictions (glasses, alcohol level, etc)?

As a side note, has she ever seen you have a seizure? Even with 15 minutes warning all that really gives you time to do is pull over someplace decent so that might be scary for her if she's not used to it.

If your DL is currently legal and you have had no medical restrictions placed on you from driving then legally you are permitted to supervise if you are over 25 years of age. Even you qualify your posts with "for the most part"...I have told you the possible legal and criminal consequences if anything happens. If you chose to ignore that then you may be "OK for the most part" if nothing happens...if it does then you have chosen to face some serious stuff that there is no need to face.

Take it from me as a professional driving instructor, you need to keep your wits about you 100% to avoid trouble, and, at times, even that is not enough. I have no possible medical concerns, an extra brake pedal, extra mirrors and lots of training to help me instruct drivers the right way. You don't. Those are the facts.

teach her what to do in-case you have seizure i guess?

unless i got my license when i was 14-15, then yea, im over 25

grand mal seizures are where your flopping around, i havent had one of those in a loooooooooooooooooooooong time. theres many different types, for me, now, all i do is black out for 10-15 seconds then wake up. i take anticonvulsants, so i wont be like a fish outta water.

any of you guys ever have deja vu? if so, guess what....thats a seizure about to happen.

as my brain surgeon said - almost everyone will experience deja vu at some point or another. its basically your eyes seeing something, and your brain not processing it because its going to slow, and when it finally catches up to with what your eyes are seeing, it gives the feeling of you've already been/seen it before...basically its lag. if it lags to much, a seizure will occur - black out, if it goes further than that, convulsions.

does your cousin aware of your condition?

I wouldn't teach her, only because i don't her father/ your cousin to worry.

Not to deviate this topic, but I'm curious about something. What if it feels like it happened months earlier? Still the same thing?

What?

lol I experienced deja vu quite a few times in my life, I can recall that it has happened a few months ago too