A recent study by National Highway Traffic Safety study reveals that drivers involved in crashes stemming from a medical condition are more likely to suffer more serious injuries or to die.
Patients with diabetes have to monitor their disease from the minute they wake up, according to Channel 12, WRDW News. Even with close monitoring, a patient’s blood sugar can drop instantly. If this happens when the person is behind the wheel, it can be very dangerous for anyone who is also on the road.
A diabetic patient, Ruth Wahl, says, “You have to remember to take your blood sugar. Take your medicine and check your insulin. I mean just do a lot of different things.”
Wahl always takes a bag with her that has her medicine and her blood glucose monitor. She can always check her vitals with this bag and even has treats in the bag in case her sugar drops.
A diabetes educator at University Hospital, Robin Petry, said that driving is an extra challenge for someone with diabetes. A person with an extreme drop in blood sugar can be a worse driver than a drunk driver, according to Capt. Scott Gay of the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office.
If a diabetes patient is involved in a car crash, they can still be found at fault depending on the details of the crash.
The National Highway Traffic study found that 20,000 people cause accidents yearly stemming from a medical condition they have. Just this month there was a fatal accident in Aiken when the driver of a car suffered complications from diabetes and ran off the road, hitting a tree.
Drivers on the road always to need to practice defensive driving in cases or situations where this can happen.
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