You should notify the DVLA if you have been diagnosed with any of the following health issues
Heart conditions, strokes and glaucoma are among the conditions that must be reported to the DVLA.(Image: Yui Mok/PA Wire)
Motorists across the UK are being urged to remember their obligation to inform authorities of any medical conditions or disabilities that might affect their ability behind the wheel.
With 189 conditions currently listed by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), officials are encouraging drivers to verify their status to prevent serious legal repercussions. Neglecting to report a notifiable condition to the motoring agency represents a considerable oversight that could lead to penalties of up to £1,000.
In more serious circumstances, particularly incidents where an undisclosed condition plays a role in a road traffic collision, motorists could face criminal charges.
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Any licence holder is legally obligated to notify the DVLA upon developing a fresh medical condition or if a pre-existing one deteriorates. That said, the duty to inform varies depending on the condition’s characteristics and its impact on the person’s driving ability.
While the DVLA keeps an A-Z register of 189 conditions, the fundamental principle remains straightforward: if a condition compromises your capacity to drive safely, it must be declared.
Although the register of potential conditions is comprehensive, the DVLA emphasises seven particular categories that commonly require formal disclosure:.
- Epilepsy
- Diabetes (particularly if requiring insulin treatment)
- Heart conditions (including atrial fibrillation and the use of pacemakers)
- Strokes (including mini-strokes/TIAs)
- Sleep apnoea
- Syncope (fainting episodes)
- Glaucoma
Prevalent mental health conditions, including anxiety or depression, may equally necessitate notification if they compromise a motorist’s ability to control a vehicle safely.
(Image: Getty Images)
Numerous motorists worry that declaring a medical condition will inevitably lead to losing their driving licence. However, this isn’t necessarily true.
The DVLA evaluates each case on an individual basis to establish whether a driver can continue on the road, frequently recommending vehicle modifications or limited licences instead of outright revocation.
Motorists are legally obliged to voluntarily surrender their licence to the DVLA only under the following circumstances.
- Medical advice – Your doctor has formally advised you to stop driving for a period of three months or longer.
- Impairment – Your medical condition affects your ability to drive safely and is expected to last for three months or more.
- Safety standards – You no longer meet the medical standards required for driving.
After a condition is declared, the DVLA will assess the information. In numerous instances, individuals are allowed to carry on driving while their application is being reviewed, provided they aren’t otherwise disqualified.
Should further action be necessary, the DVLA will relay its decision by post, offering comprehensive guidance on any required vehicle alterations, licence limitations, or directions to cease driving.
Below is the full list of conditions you may need to declare to the DVLA:
- Absence seizures
- Acoustic neuroma
- Addison’s disease
- Agoraphobia
- Alcohol problems
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Amaurosis fugax
- Amputations
- Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
- Angina
- Angioplasty
- Ankylosing spondylitis
- Anorexia nervosa
- Anxiety
- Aortic aneurysm
- Arachnoid cyst
- Arrhythmia
- Atrial defibrillator
- Arteriovenous malformation
- Arthritis
- Asperger syndrome
- Ataxia
- Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
- Autistic spectrum condition
- Balloon angioplasty (leg)
- Bipolar disorder
- Blackouts
- Blepharospasm
- Blood clots
- Blood pressure
- Brachial plexus injury
- Brain abscess, cyst or encephalitis
- Brain aneurysm
- Brain angioma
- Brain haemorrhage
- Brain injury (traumatic)
- Brain tumours
- Broken limbs
- Brugada syndrome
- Burr hole surgery
- Caesarean section
- Cancer
- Cataracts
- Catheter ablation
- Cardiac problems
- Carotid artery stenosis
- Cataplexy
- Cavernoma
- Central venous thrombosis
- Cerebral palsy
- Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease
- Chiari malformation
- Chronic aortic dissection
- Cognitive problems
- Congenital heart disease
- Convulsions
- Coronary artery bypass or disease
- Coronary angioplasty
- Cranial nerve palsy (with double vision
- Cystic fibrosis
- Deafness
- Defibrillator
- Déjà vu
- Dementia
- Depression
- Diabetes
- Dilated cardiomyopathy
- Diplopia (double vision)
- Dizziness
- Drug misuse
- Eating disorders
- Empyema (brain)
- Epilepsy
- Essential tremor
- Eye conditions
- Fainting
- Fits
- Fractured skull
- Friedreich’s ataxia
- Glaucoma
- Global amnesia
- Grand mal seizures
- Guillain-Barré syndrome
- Head injury
- Heart attack
- Heart arrhythmia
- Heart failure
- Heart murmurs
- Heart palpitations
- Heart valve disease or replacement valve
- High blood pressure
- HIV or AIDS
- Hodgkin’s lymphoma
- Huntington’s disease
- Hydrocephalus
- Hypertension
- Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
- Hypoglycaemia
- Hypoxic brain damage
- Hysterectomy
- Implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD)
- Intracerebral haemorrhage
- Ischaemic heart disease
- Kidney dialysis
- Kidney problems
- Korsakoff’s syndrome
- Labyrinthitis
- Learning difficulties
- Left bundle branch block
- Leukaemia
- Lewy body dementia
- Limb disability
- Long QT syndrome
- Loss of an eye
- Low blood sugar
- Lumboperitoneal shunt
- Lung cancer
- Lymphoma
- Macular degeneration
- Malignant brain tumours
- Malignant melanoma
- Manic depressive psychosis
- Marfan’s syndrome
- Medulloblastoma
- Memory problems (severe)
- Meningioma
- Mini-stroke
- Monocular vision (sight in one eye only)
- Motor neurone disease
- Multiple sclerosis
- Muscular dystrophy
- Myasthenia gravis
- Myocardial infarction
- Myoclonus
- Narcolepsy
- Night blindness
- Obsessive compulsive disorder
- Obstructive sleep apnoea
- Ocular myasthenia gravis (with double vision)
- Ophthalmoplegia (with double vision)
- Pacemakers
- Palpitations
- Paranoia
- Paranoid schizophrenia
- Paraplegia
- Parkinson’s disease
- Peripheral arterial disease
- Peripheral neuropathy
- Personality disorder
- Petit mal seizures
- Pituitary tumour
- Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Psychosis
- Psychotic depression
- Pulmonary arterial hypertension
- Renal dialysis
- Retinal artery fugax
- Retinitis pigmentosa
- Retinopathy (with laser treatment)
- Schizo-affective disorder
- Schizophrenia
- Scotoma
- Seizures
- Severe communication disorders
- Severe depression
- Sight in one eye only
- Sleep apnoea
- Sleepiness (excessive)
- Spinal problems and injuries
- Stroke
- Subarachnoid haemorrhage
- Surgery
- Syncope
- Tachycardia
- Temporal lobe epilepsy
- Tonic clonic fits
- Tourette’s syndrome
- Transient global amnesia
- Transient ischaemic attack
- Tunnel vision
- Usher syndrome
- Valve disease or replacement valve
- Ventricular defibrillator
- Vertigo
- Vision in one eye only
- Visual acuity (reduced)
- Visual field defect
- VP shunts
- Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome