Driving without a licence

is an offence. It is an offence for very good reasons. 

This is something I am never likely to do for the simple reason I do not know how to drive a car. You could put me in the driver's seat and I would have (almost) no idea what to do. 

There are frequent reports in the press of people driving without a licence. These are usually people who have committed an offence of some sort, often the sort of offence which has caused them to lose their licence in the first place.

And then there are people who simply forget to renew their licence to drive. This actually happened to the late Senior Cat. It occurred at the time when my mother was dying in hospital. Of course the Senior Cat was under extreme stress at the time. One Sunday morning he was about to go to church when he came back in looking rather pale. He stood there in the kitchen and said, "My licence has expired. It expired on Wednesday." It meant he had been driving without a licence for three days. 

He did not go to church. The following morning he walked up to the local Motor Vehicles office and told the person behind the counter what had happened. Fortunately he met with sympathetic understanding - and an admission the person behind the counter had done something similar. He came home with his licence renewed but it gave both of us a nasty fright. We knew how serious the situation could have been.

Perhaps this is why I was so horrified when someone else I know told me she had been driving without a licence. She was blissfully unaware of this until she had to show some acceptable ID for another purpose. Her licence was handed back to her with the statement it was not valid and therefore not acceptable.

She told me all this in a phone call. Yes, she had driven home. No, she had not made any arrangements to renew it. She would do that in the coming week. Yes, she was intending to drive to the Motor Vehicles office to get it renewed. No, she had not done anything about getting a medical certificate. (She is over eighty and has a disability which requires her to get a medical certificate.) 

"But if I can't drive there how can I get it?" she asked me when I told her she must not drive without a licence. 

"Get a taxi," I told her. I was so alarmed by then. Her attitude was so very casual. She did not seem to be in the least bit concerned by all this. It was so different from the Senior Cat's reaction. 

I put the phone down feeling worried. I am already uncertain as to whether this person should actually be driving. She is someone I would not feel happy about taking me anywhere at all, not even to the end of the street.

I have another friend who is eighty-eight. She has just bought a new car. It might seem like a silly thing to do but she has a yearly medical to assess her fitness to drive. Her ability and fitness to drive is not under question. She chooses not to drive at night and plans her routes so as to avoid difficult intersections. Her reaction times are excellent. Recently she told me, "I won't renew my licence again and might even give it up before the five years are up." I would go with her but not the other person because I know she will do this. She will use taxis if she wants to go out. 

I know that taking a licence away from someone does have a massive impact on their lives. I know because never having had one has had a massive impact on my life. It does not mean someone should retain their licence for this reason. A licence is a responsibility and if you take a casual attitude towards renewal or show a willingness to drive when your licence is out of date - should you be driving?