I got pulled over by the police.

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Earlier today I had to ride my scooter down to the university library (4 miles across town).
I just had a moment where it just got too much; ridiculously busy traffic, sirens.... and I made a stupid decision to pull out of a junction when I shouldn't have and of course, a police car wasn't too far away. He pulled me over further down the road and asked me what happened. I knew what had happened, as I explained above but all I could do was stutter something about pulling out and said it was a bit of a stupid thing to do. He gave me a lecture about how it was dangerous and about riding safely and I just tried to say yes at the right places. I didn't get a ticket or anything, just the lecture.
In normal circumstances, normal traffic levels, me being in a good, clear state of mind I don't believe my AS affects my ability to drive. However looking back, I know in the past when I have been in many situations where I've been heavily affected by it and definitely should not have got in the car (regardless of the fact I didn't have a diagnosis until a month ago). I realise it's my responsibility to decide whether I'm safe to drive but in reality, my scooter is my lifeline to greater independence and it can be a difficult judgement to make.
My question is this: Do I have to or should I declare my diagnosis to the DVLA? I looked on the DVLA website and it says this 'Car or motorcycle licence:
You must tell DVLA if your condition will affect your driving. Fill in form M1 and send it to DVLA. The address is on the form'.
My fear is that I'll get my licence taken away or restricted somehow or something. On the flip side there is this info on the DVLA site :You can be fined up to £1,000 if you don’t tell DVLA about a medical condition that affects your driving. You may be prosecuted if you’re involved in an accident as a result. :-/

I don't know if we have a similar issue in the US. I have never looked into it because my AS does not affect my driving that severely even though there are occasions where it can get really bad when people play loud stereos. But I carry an Autism alert card that I made in my wallet and I know that you can get them in the UK. That way I can always pull it out if I need it like if a situation like yours. But as far as whether you should let them know, I would call and ask them anonymously. They should be able to answer you and let you know if your case is severe enough that you need to report it. You don't have to tell them who you are, you can even pretend you are calling on behalf of a friend. If you don't have any risk of penalty or losing your license if you let them know and if it will somehow protect you in certain situations, but if all it will do is cause you problems, I would not.

There are many conditions that COULD make a person unable to drive safely, but as long as you exercise judgment, you aren't required to report them. Example: a diabetic who manages his blood sugar well, probably no issues; but if they let their blood sugar run wild, and they go into insulin shock or sugar shock, probably is unsafe on the road.

I wouldn't report it. Just use good judgment.

ask them anonymously.

so far i think aspieness has only affected me in driving when i made a stupid maneuver during a driving test that failed me and when i was made to explain, all i could manage to let out was short stutter bursts.

Well like I said, in normal circumstances and when I'm in a good, clear state of mind, I'm fine but there are obviously times when I'm not :-/. I actually got one of those Autism Alert cards from the NAS just recently which is in my wallet. Luckily nodding and trying to say yes at the right places seemed to deal with the situation quite quickly. I knew what I'd done wrong, I will just try to exercise more caution and better judgment in the future.
I think I may try to contact them anonymously but obviously I will try to exercise more caution and better judgement in the future.
Thanks for your responses.

Misread OP. Deleted comment.

Last edited by Torstin on 23 Dec 2015, 1:48 pm, edited 4 times in total.

Officially you should tell DVLA.

LINK

I'm assuming the issue is stress/anxiety/decision making?
If there is a chance that you will hurt yourself or others then you should not drive at that point in time. Many people do drive when they shouldn't, being too tired, too stressed or whatever, so you are not alone in this but this is a good time to examine what your own limits are. Maybe talk to your doctor if they can offer you any help and whether you should report this to DVLA before you do anything else.

Last edited by neilson_wheels on 23 Dec 2015, 1:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.

The laws are there for everyone, no one should be above the law. Laws are in place because people often make poor decisions

She hasn't broken any law, she made a bad decision, which anyone is capable of.

And if someone does get hurt, how will that sit with your philosophy?

Misread OP. Deleted comment.

Last edited by Torstin on 23 Dec 2015, 1:48 pm, edited 3 times in total.

Wow, can you say "overthinking"?

I don't think you need to report your AS.

The decision you made that day was a stupid one, but everyone makes stupid driving decisions from time to time.
I don't normally have a problem driving, but if I have been driving four hours or become very tired, my ability to cope diminishes and can contribute (and has contributed) to stupid decisions.
But, *everyone* is prone to this.

Problems that affect driving are much more clear-cut.
I know someone with narcolepsy. She must declare that. Even *that* does not deny her the ability to drive, but she had to be on probation for a while until the meds were stabilized in her system. People with seizure disorders need to declare it.

The issues are whether it is *reasonable* to think that something bad could happen *just because* of your condition. It is reasonable to think that about narcolepsy and seizure disorders, and such. So, they need to be reported. Other things, even heart disease, are probably not reported. Is it *reasonable* to think someone could have a heart attack while driving? It could happen to anybody!

I wouldn't worry about your condition. Just take care of yourself, and if you know you are not in the frame of mind to drive (and can avoid it), then do so. For myself, I have a hard time driving long distances (basically over an hour to and hour-and-a-half, which is not long.) I have gotten used to finding a safe place to pull over and take a quick nap. I have learned not to be embarrassed about taking longer to get somewhere because I needed a rest. Sometimes, I even build those extra 15 minutes into my trip in case I need them. Don't be ashamed to do what it takes to make adjustments for yourself. But that doesn't mean you have to tell the authorities about every single struggle.

It is probably a good idea to ask anonymously, as has been suggested, so you don't break the law. But I highly doubt this is a major issue.

This makes sense.

It sounds like sensory overload in a specific situation was the problem. It may be, Kirstie04, that you can find ways to avoid that.

I have had this every once in a long while and it is scary if it happens while you are driving, but the general rule for safe driving is: don't drive while distracted or impaired. You wouldn't drive while so tired you could not keep your eyes open, or while watching TV or texting on a phone. In the same way, if you find yourself approaching sensory overload, pull over somewhere and wait it out. Take a nap, or meditate or wait for the immediate problem to wear off.

I once ran a red light in similar circumstances. There were too many things going on simultaneously and I was distracted by a violent accident and the huge sounds it made. It was a complicated intersection with mutliple streams of converging traffic and while I was checking merging traffic from the left, the first of two sets of lights in front of me changed... as I pulled through them.

No harm done, one person honked and that was that. But I learned that it's better to wait for the bad circumstance to change than risk your own safety or the safety of others, and sensory problems are as big a distraction as being intoxicated, fatigued or in a conversation on your phone. Respect that and simply pull over or into a rest area if it starts to happen again.

I'm glad you didn't get a ticket.

I don't think you should tell the traffic authorities about your "condition." You don't really have a condition, like epilepsy, where you could really be a dangerous person on the road.

Driving in England is much different than driving in the US--especially in London. At this point, I would only drive in Central London if it was an emergency.

I'm thinking: maybe you should have followed the car immediately ahead of you until you got into a less dense area. Then you should have pulled over as soon as possible to collect yourself. Then you should have backtracked your way back to your destination. I've done this kind of thing before.

It's better to arrive five minutes later than to risk not arriving at all.

Bea, this is not the first time I've seen you tell someone they are "overthinking".

You're on a site full of autistic people. One of the things not all but many of us suffer from as part of our very autism is a propensity to "overthink" things. It tends to come in the same package as anxiety, another thing not all but many of us suffer from as part of our autism.

If you want to not have to keep telling people to stop "overthinking" you're only going to find that on a site that isn't about autism....

Get past that and deal with the issue at hand.

Personally I don't think the OP needs to report this, but instead simply make case by case judgement calls on whether she feels up to driving, journey by journey.

It says only to report your asperger's IF your driving is affected by it.
But it's not affected ALL the time, every time so screw it.

Is this to me? I know I can't help but overthink most things to be honest.

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I know there are plenty of idiots on the road (just minutes later I saw someone speeding, weaving in and our of cars along a dual carriageway :-/) without anything remotely declarable but my worry was just that if I happened to find myself in a similar situation (as I have been in the past), then I'd be liable because I didn't declare.

Like nerdygirl, Adamantium and kraftiekortie said, I just need to try and exercise more caution and not worry so much about taking my time.

Is it possible that Bea's "overthinking" response was to the now deleted post immediately preceding it and not a direct response to the OP?