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Guidance

Assessing fitness to drive: a guide for medical professionals

Advice for medical professionals to follow when assessing a patient's fitness to drive.

Updates to this page

From:
Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency
Published:
11 March 2016
Last updated:
7 November 2025
Show all updates

  1. Updated PDF. For high level changes, please see page 3.

  2. Updated PDF. Page 71 - corrected the exercise or other functional test requirements information under the 'Aortic aneurysm - ascending or descending thoracic aorta (which includes the aortic arch) or abdominal' section. Page 144 - under the heading ‘Reflex syncope’, the table ‘Reflex syncope without a reliable prodrome’ has been updated for Group 1 drivers who have experienced multiple episodes of syncope.

  3. Updated PDF. For high level changes, please see page 3 and 4.

  4. Updated PDF.

  5. Amendment made to page 64 of the PDF, 'Successful catheter ablation', for consistency with the HTML guidance. 'For other ablations' (Group 1 car and motorcycle) amended from "Must not drive for at least 4 weeks but need not notify DVLA" to "Must not drive for at least 2 days but need not notify DVLA".

  6. PDF updated. For more information about the amendments made, see pages 2 to 3 of the PDF.

  7. Updated 'Details' section with a link to the 'Secretary of State for Transport’s Honorary Medical Advisory Panels' guidance page and advice to sign up for email alerts to receive the latest vacancies for DVLA's medical advisory panels.

  8. Updated PDF.

  9. Updated PDF.

  10. PDF updated.

  11. Survey for medical professionals closed - link removed. PDF updated

  12. PDF added.

  13. Message added: A PDF version of the guidance will be available soon.

  14. Updated pdf for Assessing fitness to drive: a guide for medical professionals (August 2018).

  15. Survey for medical professionals added.

  16. PDF updated. For more information about the amendments made, see page 2 of the PDF.

  17. 'Excessive sleepiness including obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome' section updated.

  18. PDF updated.

  19. PDF updated.

  20. Survey removed.

  21. Change to the neurology chapter. Transient loss of consciousness with seizure markers has been updated.

  22. General updates to the guide.

  23. First published.

Documents

Assessing fitness to drive: a guide for medical professionals

Ref: MIS828

PDF, 3.34 MB, 159 pages

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Details

These are medical standards of fitness to drive for medical professionals. This guidance is also available as HTML and is usually updated every 12 months. It has replaced the medical at a glance.

The guidance is prepared on the advice of the Secretary of State for Transport’s Honorary Medical Advisory Panels.

If you are not a medical professional, view health conditions and driving.

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