Michigan OC-88 Driver Evaluation Form: Filing Rules and Outcomes

The Michigan OC-88 Driver Evaluation Form — officially renumbered DA-88 but still commonly filed under OC-88 — is how you ask the Secretary of State to review whether someone is safe to keep driving. You complete the form, sign it, and send it to the Department of State’s Driver Assessment Section in Lansing by email, fax, or mail. A driver analyst reviews what you submit and decides whether to order the driver in for a re-examination. The authority for all of this sits in MCL 257.320.¹

Who Can File

You do not need to be a professional. The Department accepts requests from law enforcement, physicians and other medical providers, Secretary of State staff, attorneys, adult protective services workers, and private citizens — family members, friends, and neighbors included.² What you do need is firsthand knowledge of the driver’s behavior or condition.

Law enforcement officers file through a separate online portal (the eDA-88). Everyone else uses the paper DA-88, available as a PDF from the Secretary of State.³

You Cannot File Anonymously

The form will not be processed without your name, address, phone number, and signature.³ Your identity is kept confidential to the extent Michigan and federal law allow, and the Department frames that confidentiality as protection against retaliation. Submissions from law enforcement and other government agents acting officially are not given the same confidentiality treatment.²

What Actually Justifies a Request

MCL 257.320 sets out the grounds. You do not need to cite the statute, but what you describe should match one of these situations:¹

Physical or mental unfitness to drive safely — seizures, sudden loss of consciousness, progressive dementia, significant vision loss, and similar conditions.
Involvement in one or more fatal crashes.
Three injury or property-damage crashes within 24 months, with the police report showing the driver committed a moving violation each time.
Twelve or more points on the driving record within two years.
A conviction for violating an existing license restriction.

Age by itself is not a valid ground. The Department is explicit on this point: you must describe a specific incident, medical episode, or pattern of unsafe behavior, not the fact that someone is older.²

Filling Out the Form

Before you start, gather the driver’s full legal name, current home address, and date of birth. The license number helps if you know it, though the analyst can locate the record without it. You will also need your own name, address, phone number, and signature — again, all four are required.³

Describing the Safety Concern

This is where the form succeeds or fails. The narrative section asks you to describe a medical episode, incident, pattern of behavior, or other evidence that justifies the evaluation.³ Stick to what you saw and can date:

Give dates and locations. “On March 12, 2026, at Main and Elm in Grand Rapids, the driver ran a red light and struck a parked car” is far more useful than a general worry.
Describe observable behavior. Drifting across lane lines, driving on the wrong side of the road, missing stop signs, turning from the wrong lane.
Report medical episodes you witnessed. The driver blacked out at the wheel, appeared disoriented and could not find the way home, or told you they can no longer read road signs.

Vague concerns like “seems too old” or “I worry about their health” give the analyst nothing to work with. Requests built on generalizations are commonly closed without action.

Where to Send It

Once the form is signed, send it to the Driver Assessment Section by any of these three routes:²

Email: MedicalForms@Michigan.gov
Fax: 517-335-2189
Mail: Michigan Department of State, Driver Assessment Section, P.O. Box 30810, Lansing, MI 48909-9832

Email and fax reach the analyst faster than mail. Standard first-class postage is fine if you are sending a paper copy.

What Happens After You Submit

A driver analyst reviews the form and any supporting information, then decides whether the facts warrant ordering a re-examination. Not every request leads to action. If the description is too vague or the concern is not safety-related, the file may be closed.

When the Department moves forward, the driver receives a mailed notice at the address on their most recent license application or change-of-address filing, telling them when and where to appear.¹ Depending on the concern, the re-examination can involve a vision screening, a knowledge test on traffic laws, a behind-the-wheel driving test, or some combination. If a medical condition is at issue, the driver may also have to have their physician complete a Physician’s Statement of Examination (DA-4P).

Possible Outcomes

After the re-examination, the Secretary of State has broad authority to restrict, suspend, or revoke the license, or impose other conditions.¹ Common results include:

No action, with the driver keeping an unrestricted license.
Restrictions such as daylight-only driving, no highway driving, a limited geographic radius, or required adaptive equipment.
Periodic medical review, requiring updated physician statements at set intervals.
Suspension of driving privileges, which under this section cannot exceed one year.
Revocation of the license.

If the driver ignores the notice and fails to appear, the Secretary of State can suspend the license immediately. That suspension stays in place until the driver actually shows up for the re-examination — it does not expire on its own.¹

Reinstatement

A driver whose license is suspended or revoked after a re-examination under MCL 257.320 must pay a $125 reinstatement fee before the license is reissued or returned.⁴ The fee alone will not do it. The underlying safety issue has to be resolved first, which usually means passing the re-examination components, submitting a satisfactory physician’s statement, or both.

1
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 257.320 – Investigation or Reexamination of Person
2
Michigan Department of State. Driver Assessment
3
Michigan Secretary of State. Michigan OC-88 Request for Driver Evaluation
4
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 257.320e – Payment of Reinstatement Fee