At a get-together last week a casual acquaintance mentioned he’d damaged his car because he’d “had another spell,” blacked out for a moment and struck his trash cans. :eek:
Apparently he has a medical condition that causes him to either black out or doze off (he used both explanations). He sees no reason to stop driving and insists he gets warnings before a ‘spell’ but ignored the signs this time.
I really don’t want to wait around and hope he doesn’t kill someone but I’m having trouble figuring out just how to report him. My state’s web site has a form to request someone be evaluated to determine if they’re fit to drive, but it requires the driver’s full name (I know first and last, not middle), address (I only know the city) and date of birth (no clue). The form clearly states it won’t be processed unless all the information is provided and I don’t think I can get everything by nosing around.
So, is there another way I can report him? We’re in Michigan, if that matters.
I would expect that if he doesn’t even know the dude’s birthday or address, he doesn’t know the name of his doctor.
Lots of people don’t have a GP they see regularly anyway. They see a specialist a couple times a year for their specific conditions, and get a check up or pap smear once a year, and go to urgent care when they feel sick.
I think the opportunity is lost. You could have gotten his license plate # and gone from there. Maybe his friends know his infos but then you’d be outed as the narc, if thats important to you. Cant you discuss it with his friends and let them intervene since you are so far removed from the situation?
He’s more a friend of a friend of a friend, but I’m trying to figure out if there’s someone I can approach. So far plenty of people know him, or belong to the same large groups as he does, but no one I know seems to be a friend.
If I can get his plate number, can I use it to pull up any other info? It’s about the only thing the form doesn’t ask for and it’s probably the one detail I could most easily get.
That’s my thought. Phone the police in his city, report name and approximate age. If they give a flying hoot at a donut, they will take it from there. If they don’t even care, there’s not much you can do. I’m sure given first and last name, rough description and age, they can narrow him down. (and look at his car for garbage can marks)
The only gotcha is whether he lives IN the city, or a differently named suburb. Call the state troopers?
It also depends what his problem is. If it’s just him ignoring the signs of type II diabetes, then maybe he NEEDS to be forced to address it. If it’s something less obvious, then maybe he’s the type to hide if from his doctor to avoid losing his license if a quick examination doesn’t show a problem.
Pretty sure we’ll be at the same event early next week, so if I can’t get his plate before, I’ll find it then.
It can get a little hard to figure out jurisdiction in my area because some townships/villages share a department, but the sheriff’s office is usually good about sorting things out.
While there is a factual aspect to this topic (who can you report this to), the question of who you should report this to or what should be done about it is more of an advice question and is better suited to IMHO.
Moving thread from General Questions to In My Humble Opinion.