WRITTEN QUESTION No. 539/98 by James NICHOLSON to the Commission. Driving licence restrictions on insulin dependent diabetics
Date: 1998-03-04
Institutions: European Parliament, NICHOLSON
Subjects: United Kingdom, accident prevention, diabetes, driving licence, national implementing measure, road safety, therapeutics

C 310/24

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

9. 10. 98

(98/C 310/26)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0539/98

by James Nicholson (I-EDN) to the Commission

(4 March 1998)

Subject: Driving licence restrictions on insulin dependent diabetics

On  1  January  the  United  Kingdom  government  introduced  legislation  which  prohibits  insulin  dependent
diabetics  from  the  entitlement  to  drive  vehicles  in  category  C1  (lorries  up  to  7.5  tonnes)  and  category  D1
(minibuses) obtained through passing a test to drive cars.Tthe relevant EC Directive is 91/439/EEC (1). The UK
Government has stated that insulin treatment leads to a significant risk of hypoglycaemia which can result in loss
of consciousness or diminished judgment.

What  research  has  the  Commission  undertaken  to  establish  the  number  of  traffic  accidents  involving  these
categories in which an occurrence of hypoglycaemia has been shown to be a contributory factor?

Which Member States have introduced legislation similar to that which now applies in the United Kingdom?

(1)  OJ L 237, 24.08.1991, p.1.

Joint answer to Written Questions
E-0113/98 and E-0539/98
given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(27 March 1998)

In 1991 the Council adopted Directive 91/439/EEC on driving licences which entered into force on 24 August
1991  and  which  Member  States  had  to  apply  as  from  1  July  1996.  The  Directive  introduces  the  principle  of
mutual recognition of driving licences and harmonises the driving licence categories, the minimum age and the
conditions for issuing and renewing driving licences, including the (cid:145)Minimum standards of physical and mental
fitness for driving a power-driven vehicle(cid:146) (Annex III).

Point 1.1 of Annex III defines group 1 as drivers of vehicles of categories A, B and B+E and subcategories A1
and B1 (cars and motorcycles), whereas point 1.2 defines group 2 as drivers of vehicles of categories C, C+E, D,
D+E (lorries and buses) and of subcategories C1, C1+E, D1 and D1+E (small lorries and minibuses).

Point 10 of Annex III deals with diabetes and stipulates that (cid:145)Group 2, 10.1. Only in very exceptional cases may
driving licences be issued to, or renewed for, applicants or drivers suffering from diabetes mellitus and requiring
insulin  treatment,  and  then  only  where  duly  justified  by  authorized  medical  opinion  and  subject  to  regular
medical check-ups(cid:146).

Finally, Annex III of Directive 91/439/EEC states that due consideration shall be given to the additional risks and
dangers involved in the driving of vehicles of group 2 (point 17.2).

These provisions were based on advice from medical experts from across the Community, rather than statistical
evidence relating to traffic accidents, since no such specific data was, or is, available.

The United Kingdom transposed Directive 91/439/EEC into national law on 1 January 1997, and delayed the
entry into force of the provisions concerning diabetes mellitus until 1 January 1998.

The issue is to a large extent specific to the United Kingdom situation because the Directive is necessarily drafted
in a way which enables Member States to decide on the extent of (cid:145)very exceptional cases(cid:146). Until 1 January 1997,
the United Kingdom automatically issued a category C1 and D1 licence to every person who obtained a category
B licence. Therefore, the vast majority of licence holders in the United Kingdom fall within group 2. If, when
renewing a driving licence (once every three years for people suffering from insulin treated diabetes), the holder
wishes to keep his or her group 2 entitlements, then the stricter medical standards for this group are to be applied.
It is up to the British authorities and not the Commission to decide on possible (cid:145)exceptional(cid:146) individual cases.