DMV Victory – Lapse of Consciousness Hearing – San Jose

Case History: California Drivers Advocates was engaged to defend a client whose driver license had been summarily suspended by the California Department of Motor Vehicles.  The DMV took an immediate suspension action after they received a Confidential Morbidity Report from an emergency room physician reporting that our client had suffered a Lapse of Consciousness while driving an automobile, resulting in a traffic collision.

Our 34 year old client was diagnosed with Type I diabetes at the age of 26.  Over the course of 8 years, he had gone through a “honeymoon” period where he was learning how to monitor his blood sugar and to count carbohydrates consumed at meal time, so he would compute the amount of insulin to inject.  After the first year, our client had learned his body and its danger signs.  He had suffered a few episodes of low-blood sugar, but was primarily stable.  This allowed him to become complacent, which is dangerous for any diabetic.

On the morning of his accident, our client awoke after a full-night of sleep.  He tested his blood sugar and found it to be quite low.  To counter-act this, he took his morning dose of “long acting” insulin and ate a bowl of cereal.  He anticipated that the meal would raise his blood sugar into an acceptable range.  He went out the door without checking his blood sugar again and without taking any “fast acting” insulin.  This was a mistake.

Our client went out the door and began driving to work.  10 minutes later, his blood sugar plummeted and he began to feel disoriented.  He immediately recognized what was happening and was in the process of stopping his car when he crashed into another car.  Our client never actually lost consciousness, however he did suffer a momentary loss of control.  Paramedics arrived on-scene within minutes and tested his blood-sugar.  His blood/sugar level was 54.  Because our client’s heart rate was high, he was transported to a local hospital for evaluation.  By the time he arrived at the hospital, our client was stable, however, the emergency room physician was mandated to report the incident to the DMV.

 DMV’s Position: The California DMV’s position was crystal clear. Because the information provided by the treating emergency room physician was that our client had suffered a “lapse of consciousness” while driving, it was presumed his diabetes posed an immediate hazard to the motoring public and must not continue driving.  The DMV’s plan was to completely suspend/revoke the driver license for an undetermined period of time.

Our Defense: When our client retained us, we immediately went to work to schedule his “Lapse of Consciousness” hearing with the Driver Safety Office in San Jose.

Our defense began with a detailed interview of the client to determine his medical history and the details of what had occurred.  We then embarked on a structured and focused path to collect affirmative medical evidence for our case.  Our client met with a specific series of physicians for medical examinations and then we encouraged the physicians to prepare Drivers Medical Evaluations to address each of their individual areas of medical expertise.  In each case, the reporting physicians concluded that our client’s episode of hypo-glycemia was isolated and completely preventable.  Each doctor concluded that the single episode was not an indicator of future problems and each doctor cleared him for driving.

Our client’s endocrinologist recommended that our client be fitted with an insulin pump.   The doctor also mapped out a treatment/education regimen that would assist our client in better monitoring his condition.  Our client was ready and willing to comply with his doctor’s plan.

After weeks of preparation, we were ready to present our case.  Because experience has taught us that DMV hearing officers will unexpectedly direct a driver to take a written test and a vision test, we had our client prepared.  When we entered the Driver Safety Office, there was no requirement for a written or a vision test, but our client was prepared nonetheless.

Outcome: When the hearing opened, the hearing officer accepted all of our affirmative evidence without objection.  The hearing officer was so impressed with our comprehensive preparation that he took a truly extraordinary action.  The hearing officer immediately reinstated our client’s driving privilege on the spot.  Our evidence was so compelling that he was not required to testify or take a driving test.  Our client had walked into the hearing with a suspended driving privilege.  When he walked out 30 minutes later, he was a fully licensed driver.

Call CDA Today.  Let us put you on the road to victory!

The DMV Defense Experts at California Drivers Advocates include former police officers, DMV Hearing Officers, Investigators and Scientists.  Our training, our experience and our reputation provide any driver the best opportunity to win their Administrative Hearing.

If your driver license has been suspended because you suffer with a physical or mental condition characterized by a Lapse of Consciousness or control, don’t despair.  There are thousands of Californians with challenging medical conditions who drive every day because they can prove that they medically stable.

These hearings can be won.  You can be returned to driving.  Let us get you there.