An Aussie woman has delivered a hilarious reality check in response to changes to driving standards that leave her, and thousands of other drivers like her, in legal limbo.
For the first time, the 2022 Assessing Fitness to Drive standards have listed autism as a condition that “should be assessed individually”.
The guidelines are updated every few years by Austroads in conjunction with other groups and cover a range of medical conditions including diabetes, epilepsy and vision impairments.
They are written for health professionals who treat people with conditions that may impact their driving.
According to the guidelines, drivers with autism do not have to report their diagnosis automatically, however the “overarching requirement is that a person with a condition that may impair safe driving will need to report and be assessed”.
But, trouble is, each state and territory interprets the guidelines differently, making for a lot of confusion and some truly eye-watering fines and costs to stay within the new rules.
As a driver with autism, Melbourne mum-of-two Emily Geraghty was left dumbfounded by the changes.
The 27-year-old has amassed more than 99,000 followers on TikTok for her candid videos that share her experience with a “neurodivergent family” and her own late-in-life autism spectrum diagnosis.
Replying to one of her followers, asking whether she had seen the “new legislations with driving and being neurospicy”, the mum-of-two ripped into the new changes and some of her “favourite” attempts at justifying the changes.
“I think my favourite reason that they gave for this (change) was autistic people not being able to pick up on the facial cues of other drivers. What?!” she began.
“What?! Who’s facial cues are we picking up when we’re driving? What? John at the lights next to me having a good dig at his nose?”
Or, perhaps a driver she dubbed “neurotypical Nathan” driving behind her and “getting aggro” because she is driving the speed limit.
“Because, news flash, guess what? Autism comes with this little thing, it’s called cognitive rigidity, so we’re really black and white about following rules. Including road rules,” she said.
Ms Geraghty said she felt sorry for the other drivers “who are apparently supposed to be reading my … facial cues” in the car.
Another reason, which she said she could understand more than the facial cues, was because of “meltdowns” people with autism may have.
“But, like, let’s be f***ing realistic here,” she said.
“It’s a disability where we’ve got, you know, things with repetitive behaviours.
“I’m telling you, there’d be most of us – including me – we take the same route to places all day everyday. Doesn’t matter if there’s going to be traffic and there’s a short cut, we’re not doing it. We’re taking the same route because that’s the route we flipping know.”
She said even if she was going somewhere and had no idea about the “parking situation”, she would not go.
And, perhaps, the clincher for Ms Geraghty was that she, and many people diagnosed with autism late has always had it. Before she could drive. The only difference is that now she knows she has autism.
“Like, does the government not realise that for late diagnosed people, we were autistic when we sat the original test,” she said.
“If I can sit and do a test with a woman literally perceiving me for 35, 40 minutes while I’m taking a test and not have a meltdown, babe we’ll (autistic people will) be right. We will be right.”
As a Victorian driver, under the new guidelines, Ms Geraghty would be required to self-report any long-term health condition or disability that has an impact on their ability to drive safely. But, at least according to her video, her disability has no impact on her driving.
Most jurisdictions require drivers with a long-term condition to report it in some capacity – less they face a hefty fine – which can cost up to $9288 and cancellation of licence.
GPs can often request an on-road assessment from an occupational therapy driver assessor, which costs around $1500.
If the test is failed, subsequent “driving rehab” lessons cost between $130-$150 a pop.
Although the standards state drivers with autism may struggle with a number of factors on the roads, studies reflecting the actual experiences of such drivers are few and far between. They typically have small sample sizes and centre around young or learner drivers.