Your health

These pages include extracts from the DVLA's D100 leaflet called "What you need to know about driving licences". You can download the original document by following this link.
This leaflet and these pages gives general information. It is not a statement of law.
Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the information reproduced is correct, Select All cannot not be held responsible for any inaccuracies.

What we need to know about You must tell us if you have ever had or you currently have any of the following.
• Epilepsy
• Fits or blackouts
• Repeated attacks of sudden disabling giddiness (dizziness that prevents you from functioning normally)
• Diabetes controlled by insulin
• Diabetes controlled by tablets
• An implanted cardiac pacemaker
• An implanted cardiac defibrillator (ICD)
• Angina (heart pain) which is easily brought on by driving
• Persistent alcohol misuse or dependency
• Persistent drug misuse or dependency
• Parkinson’s disease
• Narcolepsy or sleep apnoea syndrome
• Stroke, with any symptoms lasting longer than one month, recurrent ‘mini-strokes’ or TIAs (Transient Ischaemic Attacks)
• Any type of brain surgery, severe head injury involving inpatient treatment, or brain tumour
• Any other chronic neurological condition
• A serious problem with memory or episodes of confusion
• Severe learning disability
• Serious psychiatric illness or mental ill-health
• Total loss of sight in one eye
• Any condition affecting both eyes, or the remaining eye if one eye only (not including short or long sight or
colour blindness)
• Any condition affecting your visual field (the surrounding area you can see when looking directly ahead)
• Any persistent limb problem for which your driving has to be restricted to certain types of vehicle or those with
adapted controls

If you are not sure whether any of these apply to you, speak to your GP.

How to tell us about a condition
If you are filling in application forms D1 or D2, tell us about your condition in the health section. If you already
have a licence, contact us at:
Drivers Medical Group
DVLA
Swansea
SA99 1TU.
Phone: 0870 600 0301 (opening times 8am to 5.30pm,
Monday to Friday, and 8am to 1pm on Saturdays)
Fax: 0845 850 0095
E-mail: eftd@dvla.gsi.gov.uk

When you get in touch, give us:
• your driver number, or your full name and date of birth;
• as much detail as possible about the condition. You can also download the appropriate medical questionnaire
from the ‘medical rules for drivers’ section on the website at www.direct.gov.uk/motoring.

You must tell us if you have any of these conditions. If you don’t, you are committing an offence that can
lead to you being prosecuted and fined up to £1000. If you make a false statement to get a driving licence
you could be sentenced to up to two years in prison and get a fine of £5000.

What happens when you tell us
We will send you a medical questionnaire, unless you are also sending in form D4 (see below). The questionnaire
asks for your permission for our medical advisor to ask your doctor and specialists for reports.

Extra rules for medium or large vehicles, minibuses or buses
The rules about health are stricter if you drive larger vehicles. This is because accidents involving large vehicles
are more likely to result in death or serious injury. As well as the medical conditions already listed on the
previous page, you also need to tell us about:
• visual problems affecting either eye; or
• angina, other heart conditions or a heart operation.
• any form of stroke, including TIA (‘mini strokes’).

Epilepsy
If you have epilepsy and you want to drive lorries or buses you must not have had a seizure in the last 10 years
and have been off medication for 10 years.

Diabetes
If you have to take insulin, you cannot drive large vehicles unless:
• you held a lorry or bus licence on 1 April 1991; and
• the Traffic Commissioner who issued the licence, or in whose area you lived, knew about the insulin
treatment before January 1991.

Medical report form D4
When applying for your first LGV or PCV licence or renewing an existing entitlement, you will need to get a D4
form filled in by your doctor. You also need to have a D4 filled in if you hold an EC/EEA licence and are applying
for your first LGV or PCV licence or renewing it at age 45 or over.

If you already hold an LGV or PCV licence and you are applying for the other category you must provide
a further D4 form unless you provided one in the last 12 months. You can download form D4 and guidance
notes INF4D from the ‘medical rules for drivers’ section of www.direct.gov.uk/motoring.