DVLA driving regulations
This factsheet explains the rules on driving for people diagnosed with a brain tumour. NB Always check with your medical advisers and with the DVLA as rules can change.
The driving regulations are issued by the Driving and Vehicle Licensing Authority
(DVLA) in Swansea. If for medical reasons you are not fit to drive, the DVLA will take your license from you. They will issue you with a new one once you are declared fit to drive again by your doctor. You do not have to re-take your driving test. The DVLA will contact your specialist and will take each decision on an individual basis depending on what your doctor says about your level of fitness and risk of further symptoms.
Informing the DVLA about a medical condition
By law you must inform the DVLA if you have had, or currently suffer from a medical condition or disability that may affect your driving including:
• Problems with your nervous system
• Treatment or weakness that prevents normal daily activities
• Medication that causes side effects likely to affect safe driving
You will also need to provide details if you develop a new condition or disability or one that has become worse since your licence was issued. Failure to notify the DVLA is a criminal offence and may result in a fine of up to £1000.
For further information contact:
The DVLA Drivers Medical Group
DVLA, Swansea SA99 1TU
Telephone: 0870 600 0301: Monday to Friday 0800–1730 hours and Saturday 0800–
1300 hours
Fax: 0845 850 0095
Email: eftd@dvla.gsi.gov.uk
Internet: www.dvla.gov.uk
(Try Local Office helpline below to find your nearest office)
Local office helpline: 0870 850 0007
Text phone & Minicom users: 01792 766 426
Opening hours
Normally open from 0900 to 1700 hours Monday to Friday and 0930 to 1700 hours on the second Wednesday of each month.
Brain tumours and driving
You may not be allowed to drive for a while after you have had a brain tumour. This will depend on the type of brain tumour you had and where it was in the brain.
You must inform the DVLA of your condition. Below are some of the guidelines
that the DVLA issue.
Fits
You cannot drive for at least a year after you have
• Had a fit at any point
• Been on anti-fitting medication
• The only exception to this is if you have had a fit while you were sleeping and
have previously had a fit during sleep with a three year period after it that was free
from waking fits.
• If you have a fit while asleep and haven't previously had a sleeping fit then you will
have to stop driving for a year.
Tumour types
Benign tumours
If you have had a benign brain tumour in the hind brain or brain stem you can drive
again as soon as you are over your treatment. You can keep your ‘up to 70 years old’ licence. If you have had an acoustic neuroma or schwannoma, you do not have to tell the DVLA at all unless it has caused any dizziness.
If you have had any other type of benign brain tumour anywhere else in your brain, you cannot drive for a year. Then you will be given a short term license (probably for three years). After three years, you will be assessed again, and may have your ‘until 70 years old’ license returned.
If you have had a benign meningioma, restrictions apply only if you have had surgery.
You may be allowed to drive again after six months, provided you haven't had any fits. The only exception to this is if you have had a fit while you were sleeping and have previously had a fit during sleep, with a three year period after it that was free from waking fits.
Pituitary tumours
The DVLA will need medical evidence that you are fit to drive. However, generally
speaking you can drive again once you are fully recovered no matter how your tumour was treated.
Glioma
This includes astrocytoma, ependymoma, dendroglioma, oligodendroglioma and
glioblastoma multiformae. If you had a grade one or two glioma, you cannot drive for a year. After a year your situation will be reviewed and you may get your license back. If you had a grade three or four glioma, you cannot drive for two years after your treatment is complete after which your situation will be reviewed. In some circumstances, the DVLA will say you cannot drive for longer than two years before they review your license. All of these decisions are taken after consulting your specialist and for medical reasons.
Medulloblastoma
If you have had a low grade medulloblastoma that was completely removed with surgery, you cannot drive for a year. Your situation will then be reviewed by the DVLA.
Other tumours
If you have any brain tumour, other than those listed above, you cannot drive for two years.
(These notes are copied from Addenbrooke's Hospital website EP Nov 2007)