Driver Medical FAQ

The eyesight standards for group 2 (LGV and PCV) drivers are higher than for car drivers. Car drivers simply need to be able to pass the standard number plate test using both eyes together, but group 2 drivers need to have reasonable vision in both eyes.

DVLA changed the rules in 2013 so that, so long as your vision with glasses is okay, you don’t have to pass any particular test without your glasses or contact lenses. However, for no reason that we can see, DVLA still insist that the doctor tests your eyesight without your glasses or contact lenses. It doesn’t matter what the result says, but if the measurement isn’t done, DVLA will send the form back to you. Strange, we know – but there it is!

If you are coming for a taxi medical you don’t need to have your eyes tested without your glasses, so long as your vision is okay with your glasses on.

New rules were issued in 2011 which allow diabetics on insulin to hold a DVLA group 2 licence. However, there are quite strict requirements. You need to get a statement every year from a diabetes consultant to say that you are taking care of your diabetes and are checking your blood sugar levels at least twice a day, and that you use a machine which remembers the last three months’ measurements. There are some other requirements including understanding about diabetes and signing a declaration yourself.

If you take tablets which belong to the sulphonylurea or glinide families there are strict rules which were introduced in March 2016. These require you to do a finger prick blood test “at least twice a day and at times relevant to driving, i.e. within two hours of starting to drive and then every two hours whilst driving”. Also, you need to keep fast acting carbohydrate, such as glucose tablets, within easy reach when driving. You also need to have a “clear understanding of diabetes and the necessary precautions for safe driving”.

Common medications within this group are gliclazide, glimepiride, and tablets ending in …glinide, although there are several others.

Other treatments for diabetes, such as metformin, don’t have such strict requirements and don’t require regular finger prick testing.

You cannot go back to driving a lorry or bus for at least six weeks after a heart attack. You will need to have a treadmill test and you will need to be able to keep going for nine minutes on the treadmill test as well as satisfying other requirements during the test.

You must not be continuing to suffer from angina.

The medical standards for blackouts and fits is complicated and the rules depend on the exact type of episode. For a definite simple faint DVLA may well not take away your licence. For a full-blown epileptic fit, you would lose your licence for at least ten years. For other types of lost consciousness different rules apply. Please contact us for more information if this applies to you.

Yes. Please bring a list of your treatments/medications with you.

DVLA divide anxiety and depression into two types; a minor category and a more serious category. The minor category is described as “Very minor short-lived illnesses of anxiety or depression without significant memory or concentration problems, agitation, behavioural disturbance, or suicidal thoughts.”

The more serious category is defined as “More severe anxiety states or depressive illnesses with significant memory or concentration problems, agitation, behavioural disturbance, or suicidal thoughts.”

For the minor category, the person does not need to tell DVLA and it does not affect the person’s entitlement to hold a licence provided that any medication is not causing any problems with driving.

For the more serious category, DVLA will generally suspend a person’s group 2 licence (or not give a licence to a new applicant) until the person has been well and stable for six months and until they are satisfied that medication is not causing any side-effects which would interfere with alertness or concentration.

The above is a general summary rather than an exact and full quotation of the DVLA guidelines.

If you have a significant medical condition you would generally need to inform the medical department at DVLA. Short-term acute illnesses, or injuries such as broken limbs, which are expected to recover normal function, do not normally need to be notified. Drivers can notify DVLA by telephoning the medical department, writing to DVLA, or downloading a medical notification form from the DVLA web site and returning that. DVLA will send an acknowledgement to the driver.

The eyesight standards for group 2 (LGV and PCV) drivers are higher than for car drivers. Car drivers simply need to be able to pass the standard number plate test using both eyes together, but group 2 drivers need to have reasonable vision in both eyes.

DVLA changed the rules in 2013 so that, so long as your vision with glasses is okay, you don’t have to pass any particular test without your glasses or contact lenses. However, for no reason that we can see, DVLA still insist that the doctor tests your eyesight without your glasses or contact lenses. It doesn’t matter what the result says, but if the measurement isn’t done, DVLA will send the form back to you. Strange, we know – but there it is!

If you are coming for a taxi medical you don’t need to have your eyes tested without your glasses, so long as your vision is okay with your glasses on.

New rules were issued in 2011 which allow diabetics on insulin to hold a DVLA group 2 licence. However, there are quite strict requirements. You need to get a statement every year from a diabetes consultant to say that you are taking care of your diabetes and are checking your blood sugar levels at least twice a day, and that you use a machine which remembers the last three months’ measurements. There are some other requirements including understanding about diabetes and signing a declaration yourself.

If you take tablets which belong to the sulphonylurea or glinide families there are strict rules which were introduced in March 2016. These require you to do a finger prick blood test “at least twice a day and at times relevant to driving, i.e. within two hours of starting to drive and then every two hours whilst driving”. Also, you need to keep fast acting carbohydrate, such as glucose tablets, within easy reach when driving. You also need to have a “clear understanding of diabetes and the necessary precautions for safe driving”.

Common medications within this group are gliclazide, glimepiride, and tablets ending in …glinide, although there are several others.

Other treatments for diabetes, such as metformin, don’t have such strict requirements and don’t require regular finger prick testing.

You cannot go back to driving a lorry or bus for at least six weeks after a heart attack. You will need to have a treadmill test and you will need to be able to keep going for nine minutes on the treadmill test as well as satisfying other requirements during the test.

You must not be continuing to suffer from angina.

The medical standards for blackouts and fits is complicated and the rules depend on the exact type of episode. For a definite simple faint DVLA may well not take away your licence. For a full-blown epileptic fit, you would lose your licence for at least ten years. For other types of lost consciousness different rules apply. Please contact us for more information if this applies to you.

Yes. Please bring a list of your treatments/medications with you.

DVLA divide anxiety and depression into two types; a minor category and a more serious category. The minor category is described as “Very minor short-lived illnesses of anxiety or depression without significant memory or concentration problems, agitation, behavioural disturbance, or suicidal thoughts.”

The more serious category is defined as “More severe anxiety states or depressive illnesses with significant memory or concentration problems, agitation, behavioural disturbance, or suicidal thoughts.”

For the minor category, the person does not need to tell DVLA and it does not affect the person’s entitlement to hold a licence provided that any medication is not causing any problems with driving.

For the more serious category, DVLA will generally suspend a person’s group 2 licence (or not give a licence to a new applicant) until the person has been well and stable for six months and until they are satisfied that medication is not causing any side-effects which would interfere with alertness or concentration.

The above is a general summary rather than an exact and full quotation of the DVLA guidelines.

If you have a significant medical condition you would generally need to inform the medical department at DVLA. Short-term acute illnesses, or injuries such as broken limbs, which are expected to recover normal function, do not normally need to be notified. Drivers can notify DVLA by telephoning the medical department, writing to DVLA, or downloading a medical notification form from the DVLA web site and returning that. DVLA will send an acknowledgement to the driver.

For a routine DVLA medical to apply for a provisional HGV/PCV licence, or to renew your licence, DVLA allow you to go to any registered doctor. For hackney carriage licences, the rules are more complicated, because some licensing authorities allow you to go to any doctor, some authorities require you to go to the approved council doctor, and some authorities say that you must have the medical with your own GP, so you need to check with your licensing officer before you book your appointment with us.

This varies from one licensing authority to another. If you are planning to have your medical a long time before you want to apply for your licence, we suggest you check with your licensing officer before booking your appointment.

We believe Transport for London do not require an applicant to go to their GP for a fresh medical if they already hold a provisional PCV or HGV licence. Many GPs charge much more than us for a licence medical. So for a person wishing to become a London taxi driver, it may be cheaper to come to us for a DVLA D4 medical for a provisional PCV licence, and then to claim exemption from attending their own GP once they have got the DVLA provisional licence. DVLA do not currently charge for issuing a provisional PCV licence.

We recommend you check that the Transport for London/Public Carriage Office will not require you to go for another medical with your GP if you have a provisional PCV licence.