Epilepsy and Driving

masicat

Has anyone on here had any experience of dealing with the DVLA following a diagnosis for epilepsy. There is a lot of detail online and I know it has to be reported. I'm interested to know if anyone on here has been diagnosed with anything neurological that doesn't cause an unconscious state and how the DVLA enacted to it. Any advice much appreciated.

Hertsseasider

Morning. My brother had some mild fainting spells early last year. He would suddenly just faint with no warning and be out for a couple of seconds. He went to the docs who advised that he should report it to the DVLA (or the Doc would). They immediately placed a 6 month driving ban on him and would not re-instate until completely clear and confirmed by an indepenant DVLA nominated doctor.

PL54

A very close family member had a fit 18 months ago but it was diagnosed after a number of scans etc as a Precipitated Event rather than epilepsy. He / she never got round to telling DVLA about it but in looking into it the DVLA will err on the side of caution and remove licence given the chance in any circumstances along epilepsy lines.

redman

Clearly the person should not drive until sure it safe to do so. In an ideal world I would say stop driving (so no need to tell DVLA straight away), see a specialist ASAP, have tests done and then can go DVLA with full facts. An early approach to DVLA may lead to them withdrawing the licence and will be more difficult to overturn their initial decision. This may not be practical of course. However it did work for me but the circumstances sound very different.

AFKABartram

Had two fits when i was around 17, 18. Didn't start driving until i was about 22.

JorgeCosta

My brother had two fits. He is a copper and was put on light duties but was also stopped from driving - I am not sure whether he reported himself to the DVLA. He had a series of tests and scans and was given the all clear after a year and his licence was reinstated.

Carter

My mates sister had a seizure/fit and the DVLA immediately suspended her licence for a year. Once she had all the relevant tests done she had her licence reinstated. I think she had it restricted to a year at a time this was ten years ago though so she may now have a full licence back now.

cafcdave123

I was diagnosed with epilepsy at a young age so knew there could be potential issues with driving however, as they were more of a funny turn (for want of a better description) rather than full blown fits and I was free to drive but I never bothered to learn.

At the beginning of last year I suffered from a serious of "grand mal" or "tonic-clonic" seizures and my doctor informed me that I wouldn't be able to drive for, I think, 3 years.

My advice would be to speak to your GP or specialist as they will be able to tell you exactly what bracket your condition comes under and from there you will be able to decipher if you need even mention it.

lancashire lad

I was diagnosed with MS about 5 years ago and had to report it to the DVLA, they sent me forms to fill and they contacted my consultant who said I as OK to drive and so that was it. I've now reached the age where I have to renew my licence and got the forms again and now just waiting for the result.
As others have said discuss it with your consultant or GP