AN EMBLEMATICAL CASE OF FIRST ACCESS IN EPILEPSY WHILE DRIVING ACCORDING TO THE ITALIAN LAW N. 41 OF 23 MARCH 2016 AND A REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Introduction: People with epilepsy, all over the world, have many problems in everyday life because of unpredictable seizures that could hinder every human activity. In particular, they are restricted from driving because of the fear over seizure-related car accidents. The purpose of this work is to raise some questions about risk of traffic accident, driving restriction and personal liability in people with and without diagnosis of epilepsy. Case presentation: We present a case of a 49-year-old woman who accidentally hit a pedestrian with her car, causing him severe personal injury. After many clinical and instrumental examinations, the physicians diagnosed to her generalized epilepsy and she started a daily anti-epileptic therapy. Results: Studies have tried to estimate the real risk of road traffic accident in order to evaluate when a person with epilepsy reaches an acceptable risk of driving, balancing public traffic safety and personal freedom, without a real success. Therefore, we present an overview of laws regarding epilepsy-driving restriction and a recent court case related to a car accident during a first seizure, according to the Italian law n. 41 of 23 march 2016 about personal injuries and murder caused by vehicular accident and a review of Literature about the first seizure while driving. Conclusion: We believe that the driver cannot be held liable for any personal injuries or murder caused by vehicular accident, according to the Italian law n. 41 of 23 march 2016, likewise it happened in the case presented. Indeed, the crisis represent a temporary reduction of liability (incapacity to understand and want), making the person not imputable for own actions during the time of the seizure. Keywords: first seizure, people with epilepsy (PWE), car accident, personal injuries