Your safety and the safety of other road users are influenced by your fitness to drive.
Various health problems, medical conditions, injuries, disabilities and medications may affect our ability to drive. As we get older we may also notice a change in both physical and mental abilities that may affect our ability to drive.
Fitness to drive rules are designed so that licence holders are able to operate and drive a vehicle safely on our roads.
You are required by law to report any medical condition that you have, or develop, at any time that could affect your ability to drive safely.
How your licence or permit will be affected will depend on your medical condition, any medications you take and your health professional’s recommendations.
There are a wide range of medical conditions, or combinations of medical conditions, that can affect your fitness to drive. Some of the most common are listed below.
Common conditions affecting driving ability
- Alcohol/drug dependency
- Arthritis and other joint conditions
- Dementia and Alzheimers’s Disease
- Disorder, Psychosis.
- Eyesight – Conditions such as glaucoma, cataracts, macular degeneration are medical conditions that will require a medical assessment. If you need to wear glasses or contact lenses whilst driving this will be recorded as a condition on your licence but it is not a medical condition that will require a medical assessment.
- Depression or other mental health conditions like Schizophrenia, Bipolar
- Disorder, Psychosis.
- Diabetes
- Epilepsy
- Heart disease
- High or low blood pressure
- Injuries and disabilities, including limb amputation or paralysis
- Parkinson’s Disease and other neurological disorders
- Sleep disorders like sleep Apnoea
- Stroke
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