People suffering from dementia should be forbidden to drive

I expect this to be better in the upcoming days. Anyway I’ll deal with the given arguments in the following rebuttal. SourcingOn a side note: I can’t avoid to critique that my opponents sourcing lacks in-text-references, as it made it difficult for me to differ between facts and assumptions sometimes. I will point out in the following rebuttal were this specifically caused problems for me. I know that can happen, as I forgot to place a second [4]-reference correctly in the last round, but it would be helpful, if my opponent can adopt the usual souring methods for convenience and reliability. Rebuttal order 1. Different stages of dementia: Driving requires more than a functioning long term memory2. Governments should not forbid all dementia patients from driving: Individual disease-progress can only be respected as far as we can cover it 2.1 mild cases of dementia should be allowed to drive under supervision: effective supervision can’t be equally granted nor demanded 2.2 Human rights: Social privileges 1. Driving requires more than a functioning long term memoryIn his argument, my opponent shows detailed how long term memory is hardly effected during early stages of dementia. However does he underestimate the importance of short term memory and motoric. Both are required for safe driving and a functioning long term memory cannot overcome that dementia effects these two even in early stages in a way, that makes it doubtable whether demented patients are fit to drive. Short term memory for example is crucial in city traffic to memorize which turn we took and if there was a warning sign about hundred meters ago. If I can’t remember the “Attention School District” sign I drive differently and may become a threat to children. If I get lost and confused due to my lack of short term memory I am much more likely to cause an accident. On the road, confusion easily can get you scared and lower your judgment and a sudden lack of short term memory can be very confusing, as many of us might have experienced in minor forms at one or two occasions. Motoric degeneration, meaning the physical ability to grab and react is also something that people show even in earlier stages of dementia. Clumsy reactions are often listed as common indicators for relatives [5][6]. It doesn’t help if the demented person can remember how to react in a situation if that reaction comes too late or not precise enough to prevent the accident. 2. Individual disease-progress can only be respected as far as we can cover it As in my opponents conclusion stated would it be much more ideal if we could make perfectly reasonable decisions for each individual perfectly. However, this is not possible. We can’t expect the demented person to go to regular check-up’s if every check-up will cost them another thing they are used to. If we let them drive till a doctor decides individually that it’s time to stop driving, then we forget, that the doctor diagnoses this probably some significant time after the patients abilities faded. This means between the last check-up and the most recent said patient was an active threat for road safety, and the only excuse we have, if he causes harm, is that we wanted to make him happy. Generally late or missing diagnoses of dementia (less than 50% of all demented in the UK are diagnosed [7]) already means that many minor stages are overlooked, meaning that we usually don’t have to worry, that we take something away from a basically healthy person. People are more likely to be diagnosed in their late to middle stages, when the nature of the illness becomes obvious, and these people are, for all the reasons given, definitely not fit to drive anymore. One should also not overlook, that dementia is, though often progressive, not predictable progressive in terms of time [1]. We can’t know when a patient will get worse and to let them drive based on the diagnoses, that they are a minor cases, just means we have a possible time bomb on the road. 2.1 effective supervision can’t be equally granted nor demanded It’s not realistic to demand that every demented patient can afford to pay a trained supervisor or demand said supervisor being paid by the health insurance. There is neither enough actual staff available nor is the budget available to the patients or society. It is therefore rather problematic to bind the drivers licence to supervision. On an extended view is my opponents demand for supervised driving actually an argument in my favor because it underlines and bases on the assumption that demented people can’t be allowed to drive on their own. So is the alternative supervision by relatives and non-diagnosed people? It isn't, to me. I highly doubt that someone who has been driving for around 3-4 years is as experienced as my opponent claims, to live up to the responsibility of supervising a person that can make unexpected and sudden reactions for no reason. But as I can’t check the source that lead to this claim, I won’t go too deep at this point. Still, European standards for example don’t allow drivers to be trained by relatives at the beginning, but consider only driving teachers as sufficient and experienced enough. This idea can be transferred to supervising demented people, because the supervisor does not only need to know how to drive himself, but also how to deal with the driver not acting correctly or in panic. This can easily be more than an average driver can handle out of his own experience and it doesn't solve the legal problem, what happens if the demented patient causes an accident under supervision. Can we really blame the untrained relative who just tried his best? Can we blame the demented person who never intended to hurt somebody? Road accidents can ruin and take lives and we can’t expect the relatives to live with the guilt of something they could not have prevented. Supervision is not the answer. 2.2 Social privileges It’s a common misunderstanding, that driving would be a human right. It is not. It is a social privilege and can therefore be suspended if the particular privilege holder can’t live up to the responsibilities that come with the privilege. priv-i-lege (noun) : […] 3. A grant to an individual, corporation, etc. , of a special right or immunity, under certain conditions. 4. The principle or condition of enjoying special rights or immunities. [8]We are born holding all human rights, to the extent that we can only use some of them under parental guidance till we are of age. This applies for example Article 13 and 21 of the Declaration of Human Rights [9]. We are not generally born with the right to drive a car. This privilege is awarded to us by passing the test for a drivers licence after reaching the required age to take that test. The right we are born with is by equality, to be allowed to take this test. This can be confusing. For example: The Problem of Saudi Arabian women being not allowed to drive doesn’t violates their right of freedom, it violates their right to be equal with men. If men of the same age and ability are allowed to drive, so should be women. This has nothing to do with driving being a human right, but is a question of equality. In terms of dementia patients is it not a question of equality. Demented people are no longer able to live out their privilege to drive (and act equal to healthy drives) in a way that it still is safe for others. To suspend a license is a legal action if there is doubt that said person can handle the responsibility. That’s why we can suspend the license of those caught speeding or driving reckless. The limits around social privileges are not always fair, if we measure them on the individual abilities of those they apply to. There are many 15-years-old teenagers that probably would be more responsible drivers that some 18-years-old. And there will be low stage demented people that will feel mistreated to ensure the overall safety in a hardly controllable risk group. Relatives face the twilight years of their demented loved ones with the expectation to see anger, confusion and the illogical assumption to be mistreated in many ways. The rage of a dementia patient after taking their driver’s license will be just one out of many. Protecting lives should always be ranked higher than protecting one’s emotional happiness. Sources - consecutively numbered [5] . http://www.helpguide.org...[6] . http://www.nhs.uk...[7] . http://www.alzheimers.org.uk...[8] . http://dictionary.reference.com...[9] . http://www.un.org...