What
does the DVLA want to know about?You must tell us if you had any of these:
- An epileptic event (seizure or fit)
- Sudden attacks or disabling giddiness, fainting or blackouts
- Severe mental handicap
- A pacemaker, defibrillator or anti-ventricular tachycardia device fitted
- Diabetes controlled by insulin
- Diabetes controlled by tablets
- Angina (heart pain) while driving
- Parkinson's disease
- Any other chronic neurological condition
- A serious problem with memory
- A major or minor stroke
- Any type of brain surgery, brain tumour
- Severe head injury involving in-patient treatment at hospital
- Any severe psychiatric illness or mental disorder
- Continuing/permanent difficulty in the use of arms or legs which affects your ability to control a vehicle
- Dependence on or misuse of alcohol, illicit drugs or chemical substances in the past 3 years (do not include drink/driving offences)
- Any visual disability which affects BOTH eyes (do not declare short/long sight or colour blindness).
Your eyesight
It is a criminal offence to drive a motor vehicle if you cannot read a standard number plate in good daylight from 20.Sm (67 feet), using glasses if necessary. If you need glasses or contact lenses to do this, you must wear them every time you drive. There are additional rules if you want to drive vehicles over 3.5 tonnes and minibus/buses
For new drivers - your eyesight must be at least:
- 6/9 on the Snellen scale in the better eye and 6/12 on the Snellen scale in the other eye and (wearing glasses or contact lenses if you need them)
- 3/60 in each eye without glasses or contact lenses
An optician will be able to tell you about this.
Drivers who held a licence before 1 January 1997 who do not meet these standards will need to check their licensing position with our Medical Section at DVLA.
How do I tell DVLA about my condition?
If you are filling in form Dl, you can tell us about your condition in the health section. If you already have a licence, the address to contact is:
Drivers Medical Unit DVLA, Swansea, SA991TU or phone: 0870 600 0301 (Monday to Friday, 08:15 - 16:30)
Give your driver number, or your frill name and date of birth and tell us about the medical condition in as much detail as possible.
You must tell DVLA if you have any of the above conditions. Otherwise you are committing an offence.
What happens when I tell DVLA
We will send you a medical questionnaire, unless you are also sending in form D4. It asks for your permission for our medical adviser to approach your doctor and specialists, for reports.
Extra rules for vehicles over 3.5 tonnes and minibus/bus drivers
There are stricter rules about health for drivers of larger vehicles. This is because accidents involving large vehicles are more likely to result in death or serious injury.
When applying for a first provisional for lorry or bus entitlement or renewing existing entitlement, you will need to have a D4 form completed by your doctor. You also need to submit a D4 if you are an EC/EEA licence holder aged 45 or over.
As well as those medical conditions already stated, you also need to notify DVLA about:
- any heart condition or heart operation
- sight in only one eye
- any visual problems affecting either eye
- Epilepsy
If you want to drive lorries or buses you must not have a liability to epileptic seizures i.e. you should not have suffered a fit of any kind, or required treatment for fits in the last 10 years. - Diabetes (Existing drivers)
Insulin treated diabetics may not drive large vehicles UNLESS:- they held a licence to drive lorries or buses on 1 April 1991 and
- the Traffic Commissioner who issued the licence or in whose area they lived, was aware of the insulin treatment before 1 January 1991.