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Bills would shorten license suspension for some people with epilepsy to three months with physician documentation
Summary
Representatives introduced House Bills 4306 and 4307 to allow the Secretary of State to apply a three-month suspension instead of a six-month suspension for drivers who have had a seizure, if a physician’s documentation shows seizures are controlled or the episode was caused by a clear and controllable circumstance.
The Michigan House Rules Committee heard testimony on House Bills 4306 and 4307, measures intended to shorten mandatory driver's-license suspensions for people who have an epileptic seizure.
Representative VanderWall, presenting the bills, said current Michigan law requires a six-month license suspension after an epileptic seizure. The bills would allow the Secretary of State to use a three-month suspension standard if the individual submits a physician’s note stating their seizures are under control, or if documentation shows the seizure was caused by a clear and controllable circumstance such as medication changes or seizures that occur only at night.
VanderWall told the committee the change would help people return to work and school. He shared a personal office example: his staffer Jordan had a second seizure one month before turning 16, and, once on medication, did not have another seizure. VanderWall said, “This bill would have allowed him and others like him to get their licenses back and drive themselves to school, to work, wherever they needed to go.” He also cited a study he described as finding “no difference in the number of accidents that occurred between those who had their license suspended for 3 months or somebody that had their license suspended for 6 months.”
Committee members asked whether the sponsor had engaged with the Secretary of State’s office on rule parameters. VanderWall said he had worked with the Secretary of State’s office and believed the bill provided sufficiently defined criteria while leaving room for the office to set operational parameters, and that medical professionals would be the primary experts in evaluating individual cases.
Representative DeBoer supported the bill on human-centered grounds, saying systems should serve people. Representative Liberati noted the bills had been introduced previously in the Transportation Committee by Representative O’Malley and stalled; VanderWall said reintroduction followed constituent interest and the experience of his staffer. The Epilepsy Foundation of Michigan filed a card in support but did not speak; a representative from the Department of State filed a card indicating they did not wish to speak in opposition.
No vote on the bills was recorded during the committee meeting. Representative Posthumus moved to excuse absent members later in the session; the motion prevailed by unanimous consent.
