A practical guide to recognising common driving risks, checking the live medical standard and advising the patient safely.
The driver is legally responsible for notifying DVLA. The clinician advises, documents and may need to disclose if serious risk continues.
Check the current condition-specific standard. Stopping driving and notifying DVLA are separate decisions.
Normally ask the patient to notify DVLA. Disclosure without consent may be justified if an unfit patient continues driving and exposes others to death or serious harm.
Usually not chargeable
DVLA questions rarely arrive as a separate task. They usually appear inside another consultation: tiredness, a blackout, a seizure, diabetes, a cognitive concern, a visual problem, a cardiac event or a new medicine.
Group 1 or Group 2? Do they drive for work? Taxi and private-hire standards may be set locally.
Could symptoms or treatment prevent safe control of the vehicle? Did an event occur while driving?
Check the exact condition, treatment, event and licence group. Do not rely on remembered time limits.
State whether they must stop, whether they must notify, and what happens next. Record their response.
It is good practice to tell the patient that the situation is uncommon, look up the current guidance together, and ask a supervisor, experienced GP or DVLA medical adviser if the answer remains unclear.
Open the current DVLA professional guideThese are prompts, not complete licensing rules. Hover over a detail button for a quick preview, or click it to keep the table open.
A first unprovoked seizure, recurrent unprovoked seizures or established epilepsy normally means the patient must stop driving and notify DVLA. The restriction differs by event and licence group.
Unexplained loss of consciousness normally means stop and notify. A clearly diagnosed simple faint with a reliable warning may be different. Ask about triggers, warning, recurrence and whether it happened at the wheel.
Ask about insulin, medicines with hypoglycaemia risk, awareness and episodes requiring help. Severe hypoglycaemia while driving means stop and notify. Group 2 requirements are stricter.
The key trigger is excessive sleepiness affecting, or likely to affect, safe driving—not snoring or suspected OSA alone. Excessive sleepiness means stop; notification depends on diagnosis and symptom control.
Failure to meet the minimum eyesight standard, a visual-field defect or diplopia may require stopping and notification. Use the specific visual standard rather than the diagnosis alone.
If an arrhythmia has caused, or is likely to cause, collapse or inability to control the vehicle, driving must stop. Check the separate rules for Group 1, Group 2, pacemakers and ICDs.
A Group 1 driver normally stops for at least one month and may not need to notify after satisfactory recovery. Residual deficits can change this. Group 2 drivers must stop and notify.
A driver diagnosed with dementia must notify DVLA. Some Group 1 drivers may continue if safe while DVLA assesses them; Group 2 drivers must stop. Insight, judgement, attention and memory all matter.
Persistent alcohol misuse, alcohol dependence and defined drug misuse or dependence normally mean stopping and notifying DVLA. Check the substance-specific recovery standard.
Suspected OSA often arises during an assessment of unexplained tiredness. Neck circumference, snoring and tools such as STOP-Bang or the Epworth Sleepiness Scale may support assessment and referral, but they do not replace a driving-risk history.
Ask specifically about sleepiness at the wheel, near misses, previous episodes of falling asleep and the demands of occupational driving. Continue the clinical assessment and give clear safety-netting.
Driving can resume only after satisfactory symptom control. If control cannot be achieved within three months, DVLA must be notified.
Relicensing depends on satisfactory control, improved sleepiness and treatment adherence. Group 2 review requirements are more demanding.
Ask about drowsiness, dizziness, impaired concentration and next-day “hangover” effects when starting or increasing a medicine. Anyone adversely affected must not drive.
A medicine warning is not automatically a DVLA notification. Advise against driving while impaired and check the live guidance where the treatment or underlying condition may affect ongoing fitness to drive.
The driver is legally responsible for telling DVLA. Disclosure by the clinician is a public-interest safeguard, not the routine first step.
Give clear advice about fitness to drive and the patient’s legal duty to notify DVLA where required.
If they disagree, make reasonable efforts to persuade them, advise no driving in the meantime and consider a second opinion.
If they continue driving, consider whether others face a risk of death or serious harm. Seek senior or medicolegal advice where time allows.
If that serious risk remains, contact the DVLA medical adviser and disclose only relevant information. Normally tell the patient before and in writing afterwards.
When you need to check“This does not come up often enough for anyone to remember every rule. I’m going to check the current DVLA guidance so that we can agree the safest next step.”
When they must stop“Based on your symptoms, you must not drive for now. I’ll explain what needs to happen before driving can be reconsidered.”
When notification is required“It is your legal responsibility to tell DVLA about this. Telling them does not automatically mean losing your licence; DVLA makes that decision after assessing the information.”
When the patient refuses“I need to be clear that I think you are currently unfit to drive. If you continue, I may have to give relevant information to DVLA to protect you and other road users.”
Trying to remember every time limit. Open the current table; the rules are detailed and periodically updated.
Treating “stop driving” and “notify DVLA” as the same instruction. Check and communicate each separately.
Forgetting the licence group and occupation. Group 2 rules are stricter. Taxi and private-hire licensing authorities may apply additional standards.
Over-restricting suspected OSA. Focus on excessive sleepiness and actual driving risk rather than the suspected diagnosis alone.
Forgetting medication. A new prescription or dose increase may temporarily make driving unsafe.
Assuming documentation ends the duty of care. Clear notes matter, but continuing serious risk may require further action.
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In the Southampton patch, suspected obstructive sleep apnoea is usually assessed through the sleep clinic at Southampton General Hospital. Confirm the current referral route and waiting-time advice before relying on this local note. Taxi and private-hire medical standards are set by the relevant licensing authority and may apply Group 2 standards.