What you should know about medical conditions and driving
From sleep disorders to diabetes, medical conditions and episodes can adversely impact your driving ability. Here's what you need to know.In December last year, a 66-year-old Mount Macedon man drove into patrons outside a Victorian pub, killing five and leaving others injured. Police allege that the man who has lived with type one diabetes for decades, ignored several warnings on his diabetes monitor that showed his blood glucose levels were low; one only 40 minutes before the crash read 2.9 millimoles of glucose per litre of blood, a level considered to be below a safe threshold and one that may have contributed to the crash.
According to Austroads (association of the Australian and New Zealand transport agencies), diabetes may affect a person’s ability to drive, either through a ‘severe hypoglycaemic event’ or from end-organ effects on relevant functions, including effects on vision, the heart and the peripheral nerves and vasculature of the extremities, particularly the feet.
Although the specific details of how diabetes impacted the driver in this case are yet to be officially established, it does still highlight the issue of how some medical episodes can adversely impact a driver’s ability and sometimes with tragic outcomes.
A spokesperson from the National Transport Commission (NTC) says that in addition to diabetes, there are a range of medical conditions that could potentially impact a person's ability to drive safely including blackouts, seizures and epilepsy, sleep disorders and vision and eye disorders.
In addition, the national driver medical standards, Assessing Fitness to Drive lists neurological conditions, substance abuse, psychiatric conditions, hearing loss or deafness, musculoskeletal conditions and cardiovascular conditions as potential impacts on drivers along with considerations and medical criteria for safe driving.
“Drivers need good vision, physical ability, and cognitive capacity to undertake the complex task of driving a motor vehicle…They also guide the management of drivers with health conditions so that they may continue to drive for as long as it is safe to do so,” an Austroads spokesperson says.
The aim of determining fitness to drive is to achieve a balance between minimising any driving-related road safety risks for the individual and the community posed by a driver’s permanent or long-term injury or illness and maintaining a driver’s lifestyle and employment-related mobility independence says Austroads.
Undergoing these medical assessments, as well as the responsibility of the driver to follow these guidelines are not only important for safety reasons, but they are also a legal responsibility says Austroads.
“All drivers have a legal responsibility not to drive if they are not fit to do so. Drivers also have a legal responsibility to report to their Driver Licensing Authority any health condition or disability that may affect their ability to drive safely.”
Not doing so can lead to fines (over $9,000 in Queensland) or even the cancellation of licences in some states and territories.
Other conditions that may deem a person unfit, even temporarily, include anaesthesia and sedations, deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, some surgery, some pregnancy conditions such as hyperemesis gravidarum (severe morning sickness) and some medications (particularly those which can impair judgment or cause drowsiness) or other treatments. A commonly used, over-the-counter medication that can do this is some antihistamines.
If you are experiencing a condition that temporarily affects the ability to drive safely Austroads says that because these conditions are self-limiting, they do not affect licence status and the licensing authority does not need to be informed but that you should consult with your treating health practitioner.
“The treating health professional should provide suitable advice to such patients about driving safely including recommended periods of abstinence from driving, particularly for commercial vehicle drivers.”
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