EPILEPSY REGS • I have to renew my ordinary driving
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licence every three years due to a medical condition I had many years ago. I had a very bad case of flu and during it had a fit which the doctor said was a blackout.
Before HGV licences were introduced in 1969 I drove all kinds of lorries and could have had an HGV licence by "grandfather rights" but for what the doctor had said.
Is it now the law that if I have been clear of fits for 10 years and do not take tablets I can obtain an HGV licence?
• From what you say, it appears that at the time of the fit you were diagnosed as having had an epileptic attack.
At that time the law was that if you had suffered any epileptic attack after the age of five you could not hold an HGV licence.
However, that restriction was changed a few years ago.
The law on this subject starts with Section 92(3) of the Road Traffic Act 1988 which provides that, except in specified cases, a person who suffers from a relevant disability must be refused a driving licence.
Epilepsy is prescribed as a relevant disability by Regulation 71(1) of the Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) Regulations 1999. But, in relation to applying for a licence (other than an HGV or PSV licence or a licence in sub-categories Cl or 01) Regulation 72(2) states that the application will not be refused if the person has been free from epileptic attacks in the year preceding the grant of the licence or, if not free from attacks, he has had an attack while asleep more than three years before the licence is granted and none while awake since that attack.
In either case his driving must not be likely to be a source of danger.
When it comes to applying for an HGV or PSV licence or a licence in sub-category Cl or 01, Regulation 73(8) states that the application will not be refused if: • During the 10 years preceding the grant of the licence he has been free from any epileptic attack and has not required any medication to treat epilepsy; • His driving is not likely to be a source of danger.
If this applies to your medical history there should be no reason why the fit you had should prevent you obtaining an HGV licence.