As many as 189 health conditions could potentially affect your legal ability to drive. Both physical and mental health conditions are included in the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) guidance that must be reported.
Failure to do so could result in significant penalties, especially if a medical condition is ongoing. This becomes particularly important if a GP has already advised you to stop driving for three months or more, or if the medical condition affects your driving ability and lasts for three months or longer.
While the DVLA's A-Z guidancecatalogue lists up to 189 conditions that could affect your driving, seven specific ones must be declared to the DVLA. These are categorised as 'notifiable' medical conditions or disabilities.
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The DVLA's guidance warns: "You could be fined up to £1,000 if you do not tell DVLA about a condition that might affect your ability to drive safely. You could also be prosecuted if you have an accident."
Health conditions that can affect your driving If you hold a driving licence and have any of the following 'notifiable' conditions, they could impact your driving abilities and must be declared to the DVLA:
- Glaucoma
- Epilepsy
- Heart conditions (including atrial fibrillation and pacemakers)
- Strokes
- Sleep apnoea
- Syncope (fainting)
- Diabetes or taking insulin
In addition to the above conditions that must be reported to the DVLA, there are a wide range of other conditions that you may also need to report. Some of these can include very common health issues, such as anxiety or depression.
However, in many instances, these conditions only need to be disclosed if they impact your ability to drive safely.
Will my licence be suspended if I have a health condition? Your legal entitlement to drive while managing one of the aforementioned health conditions or disabilities largely hinges on how it specifically affects you. According to the DVLA, there are only three scenarios where you must surrender your licence to the DVLA, thus rendering you unable to drive:
- Your doctor tells you to stop driving for 3 months or more
- Your medical condition affects your ability to drive safely and lasts for 3 months or more
- You do not meet the required standards for driving because of your medical condition
While awaiting a decision from the DVLA regarding your medical condition, you are typically still allowed to drive. Following their evaluation, the DVLA will notify you if your vehicle needs to be modified to meet your needs or if you must stop driving.
This decision will be conveyed via a letter, which will also provide additional guidance for your subsequent steps.
Full list of medical conditions that may affect your driving Absence seizures Acoustic neuroma Agoraphobia Alcohol problems Alzheimer’s disease Amaurosis fugax Amputations Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Angina Angioplasty Ankylosing spondylitis Anorexia nervosa Anxiety Aortic aneurysm Aortic stenosis Arachnoid cyst Arrhythmia Atrial defibrillator Arteriovenous malformation Arthritis Asperger syndrome Ataxia Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) Autistic spectrum condition Balloon angioplasty (leg) Bipolar disorder Blackouts Blepharospasm Blood clots Blood pressure Brachial plexus injury Brain abscess, cyst or encephalitis Brain aneurysm Brain angioma Brain haemorrhage Brain injury (traumatic) Brain tumours Broken limbs Brugada syndrome Burr hole surgery Caesarean section Cancer Cataracts Catheter ablation Cardiac problems Carotid artery stenosis Cataplexy Cavernoma Central venous thrombosis Cerebral palsy Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease Chiari malformation Chronic aortic dissection Cognitive problems Congenital heart disease Convulsions Coronary artery bypass or disease Coronary angioplasty Cranial nerve palsy (with double vision) Cystic fibrosis Deafness Defibrillator Déjà vu Dementia Depression Diabetes Dilated cardiomyopathy Diplopia (double vision) Dizziness Drug misuse Eating disorders Empyema (brain) Epilepsy Essential tremor Eye conditions Fainting Fits Fractured skull Friedreich’s ataxia Glaucoma Global amnesia Grand mal seizures Guillain-Barré syndrome Head injury Heart attack Heart arrhythmia Heart failure Heart murmurs Heart palpitations Heart valve disease or replacement valve High blood pressure HIV or AIDS Hodgkin’s lymphoma Huntington’s disease Hydrocephalus Hypertension Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy Hypoglycaemia Hypoxic brain damage Hysterectomy Implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) Intracerebral haemorrhage Ischaemic heart disease Kidney dialysis Kidney problems Korsakoff’s syndrome Labyrinthitis Learning difficulties Left bundle branch block Leukaemia Lewy body dementia Limb disability Long QT syndrome Loss of an eye Low blood glucose (sugar) Lumboperitoneal shunt Lung cancer Lymphoma Macular degeneration Malignant brain tumours Malignant melanoma Manic depressive psychosis Marfan’s syndrome Medulloblastoma Memory problems (severe) Meningioma Mini-stroke Monocular vision (sight in one eye only) Motor neurone disease Multiple sclerosis Muscular dystrophy Myasthenia gravis Myocardial infarction Myoclonus Narcolepsy Night blindness Obsessive compulsive disorder Obstructive sleep apnoea Ocular myasthenia gravis (with double vision) Ophthalmoplegia (with double vision) Pacemakers Palpitations Paranoia Paranoid schizophrenia Paraplegia Parkinson’s disease Peripheral arterial disease Peripheral neuropathy Personality disorder Petit mal seizures Pituitary tumour Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) Psychosis Psychotic depression Pulmonary arterial hypertension Renal dialysis Retinal artery fugax Retinitis pigmentosa Retinopathy (with laser treatment) Schizo-affective disorder Schizophrenia Scotoma Seizures Severe communication disorders Severe depression Sight in one eye only Sleep apnoea Sleepiness (excessive) Spinal problems and injuries Stroke Subarachnoid haemorrhage Surgery Syncope Tachycardia Temporal lobe epilepsy Tonic clonic fits Tourette’s syndrome Transient global amnesia Transient ischaemic attack Tunnel vision Usher syndrome Valve disease or replacement valve Ventricular defibrillator Vertigo Vision in one eye only Visual acuity (reduced) Visual field defect VP shunts Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome More on the 189 conditions that could affect your ability to drive can be found here.
