What medical conditions can stop you driving?
How Your Health Can Affect Driving
As you get older, you may find that driving becomes harder to do. You may have trouble seeing well at night or you may not react as quickly to sudden events or other driving conditions. Learn the types of medical conditions that can affect driving, including Alzheimer’s disease, age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, and certain types of medication.
However, being older does not automatically make a person an unsafe driver. We find that it’s often your health and not your age that really matters most. And driving may become especially difficult for an older person if the aging process is exacerbated by a medical condition.
Medical Conditions That Affect Driving
The natural process of aging makes it difficult for some older people to continue driving in a safe manner. Often, accompanying medical problems make the situation worse. These medical conditions include:
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Vision disorders such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and glaucoma
- Medication use
Alzheimer’s Disease
Age-related changes vary widely from one person to the next. That’s why some people can continue driving much longer than others. Over time, people with Alzheimer’s disease will likely begin to lose faculties vital for driving, including reflexes, coordination, reaction time, eyesight, hearing, judgment, and the ability to orient themselves.
Age-related Macular Degeneration
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a common eye disease that causes deterioration of the macula , the tissue located in the central part of the retina.
AMD causes blurriness and blind spots in the middle of a person’s field of vision. This results in dependence on peripheral vision, seeing things out of the corner of the eye while looking straight ahead. Peripheral vision often lacks sharpness and clarity.
Glaucoma
In contrast to AMD, the various forms of glaucoma are more likely to initially cause problems with peripheral vision. Drivers with peripheral vision loss may have trouble noticing traffic signs on the side of the road or seeing cars and pedestrians about to cross their path. As glaucoma progresses, central vision also becomes impaired.
Medication Usage
Medications may affect driving performance among older drivers. Many drugs have adverse side effects, such as drowsiness, dizziness, hazy vision, unsteadiness, fainting, and slowed reaction time. Common medications that may cause side effects include sleep aids, antidepressants, antihistamines for allergies and colds, and strong painkillers.
Also, taking several different drugs together can create serious side effects. Many commonly prescribed drugs to treat Alzheimer’s disease also have side effects. Consult with a physician before beginning any drug treatment regimen to determine how it may affect your driving.
Having a particular medical condition does not necessarily mean you will have to stop driving. But it’s very important that you pay close attention to how well you drive. If you or someone you know is concerned about your driving, talk to your doctor and consider taking a driving test or evaluation.
- Resources
Maryland Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Administration
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Customer Self-Report of a Medical Condition
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Maryland law requires drivers to notify the MVA if they are diagnosed with any of the following conditions
- Diabetes that has caused a low blood sugar episode requiring assistance from another person in the last 6 months;
- Epilepsy;
- Seizure;
- A heart condition that has caused a loss of consciousness in the past 6 months;
- Stroke;
- A condition that causes you to have dizzy spells, fainting, or blackouts;
- Sleep apnea or narcolepsy;
- A history of traumatic brain injury (TBI);
- A condition that causes weakness, shaking, or numbness in the arms, hands, legs, or feet that may affect your ability to drive;
- A hand, arm, foot, or leg that is absent, amputated, or has a loss of function that may affect your ability to drive;
- An eye problem which prevents a corrected minimum visual acuity of 20/70 in at least one eye or binocular field of vision of at least 110 degrees;
- Alcohol use problem;
- Drug use problem;
- A mental health condition that may affect your ability to drive;
- Schizophrenia; or
- Dementia.
A driver must report the problem when it is diagnosed, or when he or she is applying for a driver’s license or renewing an existing driver’s license.
How do I notify the MVA of my diagnosis?
You may report your diagnosis in by contacting us, phone, mail or fax to the MVA Driver Wellness and Safety Division, or to any MVA branch or express office. Please be sure to include:
- your full name,
- date of birth,
- current mailing address,
- driver’s license number, and
- nature of reportable condition.
What will happen after I report my diagnosis?
When you have reported a condition, the Driver Wellness and Safety Division (DW&S) may send you several forms to complete. They also may send you a form for your physician to complete. After you return the forms, the DW&S Division then will make a decision about whether your situation should be referred for an opinion from the Medical Advisory Board (MAB). The MAB is a group of doctors who works with the MVA in analyzing customers’ driving abilities. If the MAB is involved, they (the MAB) may ask you for more information, or to attend a meeting.
All medical data obtained will be kept CONFIDENTIAL and will only be used for those purposes permitted by law.
After the doctor assigned by the MAB analyzes your situation, he or she will provide an opinion to the DW&S Division. The DW&S Division will make the final decision about whether your driving privileges should be restricted in any way.
Our goal is not to take drivers off the road. Our goal is to keep drivers on the road for as long as they remain a low risk for crash involvement. If necessary, to achieve that goal, we will work with drivers on a case-by-case basis.
Fees:
- There is no fee involved in this process.
MVA
Driver Wellness and Safety Division
6601 Ritchie Highway
Glen Burnie, MD 21062For telephone questions:
MVA Customer Service Center: 1-410-768-7000
TTY/Hearing Impaired: 1-301-729-4563
Common conditions that affect our driving
Some common health conditions that affect car drivers are below, with a brief outline of what to do if they apply to you, including which ones must be reported to the DVLA (or the DVA if you live in Northern Ireland).
A full list of medical conditions can be found at www.gov.uk/health-conditions-and-driving.
The exact rules and advice on what you must do depend on the exact nature of the condition. It is essential to seek and follow advice from your doctor, optician, pharmacist or other medical professional, and to comply with any decision that the DVLA (or DVA) makes about your driving licence.
If the DVLA say you can carry on driving, the advice in the other parts of this website (Driver Assessment, Keep Driving and Your Car) will help you to decide what changes you could make to help you keep driving safely.
If the DVLA revoke your driving licence, you must stop driving. In this case, the advice in Alternatives to Driving will help you to keep mobile and active.
Common Conditions
- Parkinson’s Disease
- Dementia
- Arthritis
- Multiple Sclerosis
Eyesight
It’s very common for our eyesight to get worse as we grow older, either as a natural part of ageing or because we develop an eye disease, such as cataracts. Some conditions make it harder to see as far ahead as we used to be able to, or to see objects in our peripheral vision. It might also be harder to change visual focus from looking ahead through the windscreen (or behind through the mirrors) to looking close-up at the displays on the dashboard. Glare from oncoming headlights can also be a problem at night.
In good daylight, you MUST be able to read a car number plate (made after 1 September 2001) from a distance of 20 metres, while wearing glasses or contact lenses if necessary.
If you need glasses or contact lenses to drive, you must wear them at all times when driving.
Poor eyesight can make it harder to see road signs and markings, pedestrians, cyclists, horse riders and motorcyclists, especially in the dark. It can be more difficult to judge someone else’s speed or distance, and it can slow our reaction time. This can result in braking or taking avoiding action too late, or even not seeing something or someone completely.
What to do
You must report any condition that affects both eyes and vision (except long or short sight or colour blindness) to the DVLA, using form V1. If you live in Northern Ireland, you must report it to the DVA. This does not necessarily mean you will lose your licence – an assessment of your vision will be made.
If the DVLA (or DVA) say you can carry on driving, consider taking a driving assessment and whether the advice in Keep Driving and Your Car can help you to adapt your driving easier and safer.
It is strongly recommended that all drivers have an eyesight test at an opticians every two years, or more often if the optician advises.
Avoid wearing glasses with tinted lenses, unless advised to do so by your optician or ophthalmologist. Tinted lenses reduce the amount of light available to the eye, and are not recommended for driving, especially at night or in poor visibility.
Further details can be found at Driving Eyesight Rules and Eyesight.
Further Information
Advice and help about Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is available from:
Diabetes
Diabetes can cause vision problems, and even lead to blindness if not treated. It can also cause sudden loss of consciousness in a hyperglycaemic (blood sugar too high) or a hypoglycaemic (blood sugar too low) episode. If this happened while you were driving, you would lose control of your vehicle and crash almost immediately. This puts you at risk, as well as your passengers and other people on the road, especially pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists.
What to do
Consult your doctor and follow their advice about whether you must report that you have diabetes to the DVLA or the DVA, If you live in Northern Ireland.
If you’re not sure what type of medication you’re on, check with your nurse or doctor.
You must also monitor and manage your diabetes regularly.
If the DVLA (or DVA) say you can carry on driving, consider taking a driving assessment and whether the advice in Keep Driving and Your Car can help you to adapt your driving easier and safer.
Further information
Advice and help for people with diabetes is available from:
Diabetes UK
Macleod House
10 Parkway
London NW1 7AA
0345 123 2399
info@diabetes.org.uk
Diabetes UK Cymru
Castlebridge 2
5-19 Cowbridge Road East
Cardiff, CF11 9AB
029 2066 8276
wales@diabetes.org.uk
Diabetes UK NI
Bridgewood House
Newforge Business Park
Newforge Lane
Belfast BT9 5NW
028 9066 6646
n.ireland@diabetes.org.uk
Epilepsy
Epilepsy can cause seizures or loss of consciousness, which would mean the driver losing control of their vehicle and crashing. If this happened while you were driving, you would lose control of your vehicle and crash almost immediately. This puts you at risk, as well as your passengers and other people on the road, especially pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists.
What to do
Consult your doctor and follow their advice.
If you have epilepsy, you must report this to the DVLA, using form FEP1. If you live in Northern Ireland, you must report it to the DVA.
You must also monitor and manage your condition regularly.
If the DVLA (or DVA) say you can drive again at some point, consider taking a driving assessment and whether the advice in Keep Driving and Your Car can help you to adapt your driving easier and safer.
Further information
Advice and help for people with epilepsy is available from
Epilepsy Action
New Anstey House
Gate Way Drive
Yeadon
Leeds LS19 7XY
0808 800 5050 (freephone)
epilepsy@epilepsy.org.uk
