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Opinion: This Burnaby driver can't turn their head. That sounds dangerous

It’s tricky when a person has a medical condition that limits their ability to drive a vehicle. I want people to have the mobility that comes with being able to drive.
driver

It’s tricky when a person has a medical condition that limits their ability to drive a vehicle.

I want people to have the mobility that comes with being able to drive. But if that medical condition puts other people at risk, then perhaps it’s not such a good idea.

A NOW reader named Jennifer told me a story about a confrontation with another driver on a side street that was single-lane only due to vehicles parked on either side.

The two got into an argument over letting Jennifer pass, but then the drive informed her that she suffers from vertigo.

“She then says to me that ‘she cannot turn her head as she will get dizzy.’ Pardon me? You cannot move your eyeballs to the right?

“How does she change lanes without doing a shoulder check? Guess she just merges and hopes for the best. She obviously cannot parallel park since she cannot turn her head. Is that not a mandatory road test?

Those are all good points. A shoulder check is absolutely essential when you drive a vehicle. If you can’t do a shoulder check, then you probably shouldn’t be driving. Relying on mirrors only doesn’t cover the blind spots every driver faces.

You are putting a lot of lives at risk driving the streets of Burnaby.

I know it’s hard for people to give up that mobility, but people need to think of others and ask themselves tough questions before they continue to drive.

Yeah, I know, it’s easy for me to say because I don’t have this sort of medical condition. But I have a close friend who lost part of their vision in one eye, which made shoulder checking impossible.

They immediately stopped driving. They didn’t need anyone to tell them that.

Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.