Sleep Disorders and Driving

Oh boy, this is a tough one. I live in the UK and although we do have our fair share of bad drivers, we also have our fair share of awareness campaigns, "Tiredness Can Kill" being one of them to encourage the taking of breaks.

Napping Nirvana
If trying to find the right place to nap in is an art, then I think we can agree, the front car seats, maybe even the back if you are lucky to have a bigger car than me, isn't this napping Nirvana? The reclining seats in the car, the soothing yoga CD, lovely smells from the zen magic trees, the eye mask in the glove box and the jacket to cover your head, isn't it such a wonderful place to take a nap in? An extension to home, a sanctury in the world of chaos that surrounds you? You've found in the car the ideal conditions to retreat to and now it might be swiped away from you as if you aren't suffering enough?

Of course it is right that if you are too tired to drive, you shouldn't and ethically speaking I agree, but that catch 22 does place huge pressure on me at the moment. The car is the best place for me to nap in when I'm out, because it's my car, I have the keys so if I'm out on a day trip and the sleepiness hits at 3pm, I can toddle off for half an hour and toddle back to what I was doing fairly quickly and without bothering anyone. I don't need to ask myself for the car keys and it's saving me a lot of hastle in terms of finding a room at work for the purpose of managing the EDS.

This PDF says it all really.

So possibly having to surrender and reapply for my driving license based on a probbale diagnosis of Narcolepsy in just over a week, is actually quite a shock to the system, not only for the loss of independant travel and quick journey times, but because it's my safe place to take a nap in. It's the ultimate "kick in the nards" for me at the moment, it could mean an end to the morning swims too.

I'm mourning a loss here, of course it's a big deal, equally if I did have a crash, not only is my insurance claim on the wonk and likely to increase the premium, a crash might injure me pretty badly, who knows and would automatically take my napping nirvana away also, as would a car theif. So either way really, good things come to an end, albeit temporarily of course. Maybe, maybe not, how long may it take to gain my driving license back after I've surrendered it? Surrendering it does help my case it's a "guilty plea" and looked on kindly by the DVLA. But why now? Why this? Don't they think I've had enough punishment yet?