HaggisNeepsTatties
New Member
Hi all,
A brief background - I had been going through a tough time in my life, dealing with issues related to childhood abuse. I was referred to a therapy group where I was essentially harassed and subsequently raped by one of the men in my group. I turned to alcohol as a coping mechanism and proceeded to make the biggest mistake of my life. I have little memory of the actual events but I consumed a significant amount of alcohol and made the decision to drive. I was pulled over by another motorist after having been observed driving erratically and swerving into their lane and scraping the side of their car - by all accounts I also had a few other near misses. Police were called and I blew over the limit. At the station the police were intimidating and less than kind to me, I panicked and refused to give a sample (I have some grievances over this as it was not entirely accurate to say I refused but that’s neither here nor there). I was charged with careless driving (very lucky not to be dangerous driving) and failure to provide a specimen of breath. I plead guilty and was given a lengthy ban and a fine which I deserved.
I’m utterly ashamed of myself, I had severe anxiety and panic attacks about the damage I could have done for a long time. I’m not exaggerating to say if I had caused actual physical harm to anyone that day I would have taken my own life, I couldn’t live with that. I feel so terrible about it all. Needless to say the whole sorry mess affected my life greatly - the loss of my car, the one thing that gave me some independence, was immense. I regret my decision so much. That said, however, I can’t turn back time and I have learned my lesson and taken a lot of steps to address my issues. My ban is not up for a few months yet and obviously I would love my license back ASAP, however, just getting it back at all is the most important thing.
For various reasons I do not, under any circumstances, want the DVLA to be contacting my GP. This is not due to any alcohol related issues but I do have a long history of other issues and it would just open a huge can of worms that I fear would cause a lengthy delay in getting my license back. None of those issues affect my ability to drive but this is the DVLA we are talking about.
So my question is this - I have been looking at the questionnaire and notice one of the questions asks about having had an accident in the last 3 years due to alcohol - when my ban is up it will be 2 months shy of me being able to say no to that. Do you think if I were to say yes to it, and it will be the only question I say yes to, that it may trigger the DVLA to investigate further I.e. write to my GP? I’m so desperate for my license back but I don’t want to give them any excuse to seek further evidence above their own medical. Obviously I know they may do anyway but I would seriously want to try and limit the risk of that happening.
I think I’m answering my own question here lol, sorry about that. I’m just starting to feel a bit stressed about it all as my car is so important to me. I deserved my ban, I have no issue holding my hands up and admitting wrongdoing but I feel I also now deserve my license back. I will have a private cdt test done before I book my medical to make sure all is ok there and then it’s just a case of deciding when to actually go for the medical.
What a stress this all is ?
A brief background - I had been going through a tough time in my life, dealing with issues related to childhood abuse. I was referred to a therapy group where I was essentially harassed and subsequently raped by one of the men in my group. I turned to alcohol as a coping mechanism and proceeded to make the biggest mistake of my life. I have little memory of the actual events but I consumed a significant amount of alcohol and made the decision to drive. I was pulled over by another motorist after having been observed driving erratically and swerving into their lane and scraping the side of their car - by all accounts I also had a few other near misses. Police were called and I blew over the limit. At the station the police were intimidating and less than kind to me, I panicked and refused to give a sample (I have some grievances over this as it was not entirely accurate to say I refused but that’s neither here nor there). I was charged with careless driving (very lucky not to be dangerous driving) and failure to provide a specimen of breath. I plead guilty and was given a lengthy ban and a fine which I deserved.
I’m utterly ashamed of myself, I had severe anxiety and panic attacks about the damage I could have done for a long time. I’m not exaggerating to say if I had caused actual physical harm to anyone that day I would have taken my own life, I couldn’t live with that. I feel so terrible about it all. Needless to say the whole sorry mess affected my life greatly - the loss of my car, the one thing that gave me some independence, was immense. I regret my decision so much. That said, however, I can’t turn back time and I have learned my lesson and taken a lot of steps to address my issues. My ban is not up for a few months yet and obviously I would love my license back ASAP, however, just getting it back at all is the most important thing.
For various reasons I do not, under any circumstances, want the DVLA to be contacting my GP. This is not due to any alcohol related issues but I do have a long history of other issues and it would just open a huge can of worms that I fear would cause a lengthy delay in getting my license back. None of those issues affect my ability to drive but this is the DVLA we are talking about.
So my question is this - I have been looking at the questionnaire and notice one of the questions asks about having had an accident in the last 3 years due to alcohol - when my ban is up it will be 2 months shy of me being able to say no to that. Do you think if I were to say yes to it, and it will be the only question I say yes to, that it may trigger the DVLA to investigate further I.e. write to my GP? I’m so desperate for my license back but I don’t want to give them any excuse to seek further evidence above their own medical. Obviously I know they may do anyway but I would seriously want to try and limit the risk of that happening.
I think I’m answering my own question here lol, sorry about that. I’m just starting to feel a bit stressed about it all as my car is so important to me. I deserved my ban, I have no issue holding my hands up and admitting wrongdoing but I feel I also now deserve my license back. I will have a private cdt test done before I book my medical to make sure all is ok there and then it’s just a case of deciding when to actually go for the medical.
What a stress this all is ?
