What is a good driver? Sally Sullivan, a driver-rehabilitation specialist at Marianjoy Rehabilitation Center in Wheaton, believes it is not always clear-cut except in extreme cases. She said, “The law specifically states what you can and cannot do, but if I see someone who is drifting around on the road, that could indicate a medical problem. To me, that’s worse than going over the crosswalk line, yet the crosswalk line is the infraction. I’m not saying the laws are not good, but they don’t necessarily screen bad drivers.”
Sullivan and Anne Hegberg, an occupational therapist at Marianjoy, evaluate the skills of people with medical conditions that pose risks to driving ability. Trish Lake, a driver rehab specialist, conducts similar tests at Paulson Center in Willowbrook. After physician referrals, they do comprehensive three-hour evaluations, including clinical and behind-the-wheel tests. The cost is slightly over $300, and Medicare pays over 50 percent. Both centers also retrain disabled people for better driving habits. The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago offers similar evaluations.
“If it’s just a physical problem, we can get around most everything, but if it’s visual, cognitive, perceptual problems, making judgments-those kinds of things need to get looked at,” Sullivan said.
If a close look reveals a dangerous driver, Sullivan, Hegberg and Lake take the next step: a recommendation to the physician that the person stop driving. The physician can then notify the secretary of state’s office in Springfield, or not. As of 1989, eight states required physicians to report people with medical impairments; Illinois does not.
Some physicians, the evaluators said, are reluctant to report unsafe drivers. Lake said, “It’s a hard decision. Driving is so important to people, so many doctors will say, `Why don’t you just scale it down?’ Or they will take the person’s word that they won’t drive. Other physicians are very attuned to this and will contact the state immediately.”
Lake, Sullivan and Hegberg agree that revoking the driver’s license often brings out the worst in people. “They get desperate,” Sullivan said. “It’s a survival thing. No matter how reputable or law-abiding, a lot of people will lie, sneak, do just about anything to keep that license. Sweet little old ladies and men, not lawbreakers, they will call us up and say, `I will drive anyway; I have to drive to get around. I don’t care if they throw me in jail.”‘
The specialists at Marianjoy and Paulson place no confidence in the honor system for grounding unsafe drivers and limited stock in the ability of families (which may or may not be interested, present or aware) to monitor driving.
In 1990 a proposal from then-Secretary of State Jim Edgar to permit family members to report young or old unsafe drivers was shot down. Currently, the state authorizes only physicians, law enforcement and judiciary officials to make such reports.
Sullivan believes a new licensing status, a temporary “medical hold,” would help the state keep tabs on drivers of all ages who have impairments. A physician could recommend a hold for a specific period of time after an illness such as a stroke and later assess whether a clearance or a revocation is called for.
Sullivan, who is an officer of the International Association of Driver Educators for the Disabled, said, “A person would not lose the license, which can be an embarrassment and a hassle and expense to reinstate, and physicians would be more likely to use a hold than a revocation.”
