Victory at DMV Hearing for Dementia at the San Diego Driver Safety Office

Case History: California Drivers Advocates was engaged to assist our client in fighting to restore his driving privilege because the DMV suspected he suffers with dementia.  In March of 2016, our 86 year old client went to his primary care physician to inquire about the effects of old age on a person’s memory.  He had been forgetting simple things like where he had placed his car keys or the names of people he knew when he was younger.  During a 15 minute conversation, the doctor assessed that our client was suffering with dementia and reported this to the DMV.  This assessment was made without any type of evaluation or testing.

Of course, upon receiving a doctor’s report that he was diagnosed with dementia; the California Department of Motor Vehicles assumed the worst and immediately revoked our client’s privilege to drive without any investigation.

At 86 years of age, our client has no family living in the area and is completely self-sufficient.  He is responsible for his own shopping, cooking and personal hygiene.  By taking him off the road so abruptly, the DMV caused our client to suffer a tremendous amount of anxiety and frustration over the fact he could not even drive to the grocery store.  The thought of suddenly losing his independence was devastating.

A point of particular frustration for our client is that his driving record is immaculate for the past 30 years.  The idea that the DMV would simply yank him off the road without any evidence to support the allegation of dementia was infuriating.

DMV’s Position: The California DMV’s position was crystal clear.  If the department receives a referral from a licensed physician suggesting that a driver may suffer with a degenerative disease that could affect his ability to drive, the department will move directly to revocation and later challenge the driver to prove his fitness to drive.

The DMV’s believed the need to protect the motoring public outweighed our client’s immediate need to drive.

Once a revocation is ordered for a suspected physical or mental condition, the license will remain revoked for an indeterminate period of time.  In order to reverse the revocation, the accused driver has no choice but to schedule a “Hearing” to rebut the DMV’s suspicions and to prove that he or she is safe to drive.

Our Defense: Thankfully, our client contacted us immediately after receiving the Order of Suspension/Revocation in the mail.  Because he did not delay in retaining us, we were able to contact the San Diego Driver Safety Office immediately and preserve his right to a hearing.  Unfortunately in this type of case, the DMV will not issue a Stay of Revocation so our client remained off the road while we prepared his case.

Once we were retained, we met with our client in the privacy of his own home.  There he would be most comfortable discussing what was a painful and embarrassing topic for him.  During our house-call, we conducted a very detailed interview to learn all we could about him.  His life history, medical history and driving history were all topics for discussion.  During this extensive interview, we were able to determine that although he suffered with some minimal forgetfulness, it appeared that his basic ability to function was intact.

Once we knew our client’s history, we began to lead him through the process of collecting relevant medical evidence to prove his ability to drive.  We collected Driver Medical Evaluations from a score of doctors to establish good health in the areas of vision, hearing and general medicine.  Working within the restrictions of his health insurance plan, we had our client professionally and thoroughly examined by a Neurologist with a specialty in Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.  The Neurologist found that our client’s cognitive function was only minimally affected and cleared him for driving.  Additionally, we prepared our client for a written test we were certain would be required.

When we finally entered the hearing, our Client was terribly nervous, but he was completely prepared.  He passed a written test and a vision test with flying colors.  Because we had worked so diligently to prepare him for testimony, he immediately found a level of comfort and engaged the Hearing Officer and presented himself with confidence and credibility.

We were able to successfully demonstrate that although suffering with some of the natural effects of old age, our Client was perfectly capable of safe driving.  Still concerned, however, the hearing officer mandated that our Client take a “behind the wheel test” before clearing him for driving.  Because the local DMV Field Offices were so back-logged with work, the hearing officer could not schedule a driving test for nearly three weeks.  We took advantage of this time by asking the hearing officer to issue a Special Instruction Permit so that our client could conduct practice driving before the test.  Of course when he appeared for his driving test, he aced that as well.

Outcome: Entering the DMV Hearing we were 100% prepared.  We introduced all of our evidence, our client testified perfectly and our closing argument was robust and comprehensive.

At this point, our Client had successfully addressed every phase of the Re-Examination process:

• Written Test
• Vision Test
• Driving Test
• Hearing

We served the DMV with a formal “Request to Terminate Suspension.”    One week later, we received the Hearing Officer’s final decision in the mail.  She had issued an “Order of Set Aside or Reinstatement” which finally brought our client’s matter to an end.  We had won our client’s hearing and his driving privilege was reinstated without restriction.  Because dementia can be a progressive disease however, the DMV will require that he submit medical proof of his continued stability in one year.

If the DMV is ordering the suspension of your driver license for an allegation of Dementia or Alzheimer’s disease…. call us immediately.

If the DMV announces that they intend to suspend or revoke your driver license for a physical or mental problem, don’t despair.  You have an absolute right to examine the evidence against you and to work to prove that evidence is incorrect.  Everything the DMV does, however, is time sensitive.  If you have received an Order of Suspension/Revocation because of a physical or mental ailment, you may only have 10 to 14 days to schedule a hearing.

At California Drivers Advocates, we’ve seen every play in the DMV’s book.  We know what they are doing and we know how to turn it around.  Call us today. We can help.

If the DMV is your problem…….California Drivers Advocates is your solution!

Call CDA Today.  Let Us Go to Work on Your Case. The DMV Defense Experts at California Drivers Advocates have been fighting and winning DMV Administrative Per Se hearings for years.  We excel at every type of administrative hearing handled by the DMV and have a history of winning.  If the DMV has your back against the wall, call us, we can help!