Assessing fitness to drive: a guide for medical professionals
Source: gov.uk (2025-11-07)

Advice for medical professionals for assessing fitness to drive.

Introduction

This advice is for medical professionals to follow when assessing a patient’s fitness to drive. It is usually updated every 12 months.

We advise you to bookmark this page so you always use the most up to date information in the guide.

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The impact of medical conditions on driving

Driving involves a complex and rapidly repeating cycle that requires a level of skill and the ability to interact simultaneously with both the vehicle and the external environment.

Information about the environment is via the visual (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/visual-disorders-assessing-fitness-to-drive) and auditory senses and is operated on by many cognitive processes (including short- and long-term memory, and judgement) to affect decisions for the driving task in hand. These decisions are enacted by the musculoskeletal system, which acts on the controls of the vehicle and its relation to the road and other users.

The whole process is coordinated by complex interactions involving behaviour, strategic and tactical abilities, and personality. In the face of illness or disability, adaptive strategies are important for maintaining safe driving.

Safe driving requires, among other elements, the involvement of:
- vision (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/visual-disorders-assessing-fitness-to-drive)
- visuospatial perception
- hearing
- attention and concentration
- memory
- insight and understanding
- judgement
- adaptive strategies
- good reaction time
- planning and organisation
- ability to self-monitor
- sensation
- muscle power and control
- coordination
Given these requirements, it follows that many body systems need to be functional for safe driving – and injury or disease may affect any one or more of these abilities for safe driving.

The guidelines and their development

The drivers’ medical section within DVLA deals with all aspects of driver licensing when there are medical conditions that impact, or potentially impact, on safe control of a vehicle.

To do this, DVLA develops and works within guidance, and this publication summarises the national medical guidelines on fitness to drive. It is intended to assist doctors and other healthcare professionals in advising their patients:
- whether or not DVLA requires notification of a medical condition
- what the licensing outcome from DVLA’s medical enquiries is likely to be
Some of the guidelines – for example, those around diabetes mellitus, epilepsy and vision – are set against legislative requirements (see Appendix A for details) but others are the result of advice from the 6 Honorary Medical Advisory Panels to the Secretary of State, which cover:
- cardiology (https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/secretary-of-state-for-transports-honorary-medical-advisory-panel-on-driving-and-disorders-of-the-cardiovascular-system)
- neurology (https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/secretary-of-state-for-transports-honorary-medical-advisory-panel-on-driving-and-disorders-of-the-nervous-system)
- diabetes (https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/secretary-of-state-for-transports-honorary-medical-advisory-panel-on-driving-and-diabetes-mellitus)
- vision (https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/secretary-of-state-for-transports-honorary-medical-advisory-panel-on-driving-and-visual-disorders)
- alcohol or substance misuse and dependence (https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/secretary-of-state-for-transports-honorary-medical-advisory-panel-on-alcohol-drugs-and-substance-misuse-and-driving)
- psychiatry (https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/secretary-of-state-for-transports-honorary-medical-advisory-panel-on-driving-and-psychiatric-disorders)
Each panel consists of acknowledged experts in the relevant area and includes DVLA and lay membership. The panels meet biannually and, between meetings, give continual advice to the Secretary of State and DVLA.

The medical standards are continually reviewed and updated when indicated in light of recent developments in medicine generally, and traffic medicine in particular.

This guide is also available as a PDF (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/assessing-fitness-to-drive-a-guide-for-medical-professionals).