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Diabetics are not a road risk say researchers
Page 8
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DRIVING RESTRICTIONS on insulin-treated diabetics must be reviewed because they have similar levels of road traffic collisions to non-diabetics, say researchers.
Drivers who use insulin are excluded from driving some classes of vehicle, based on the assumption that hypoglycaemia increases the risk of traffic accidents.
But Devon researchers say the law was passed without evidence that these patients actually constitute a risk to road safety.
They found that from almost 30,000 reported car accidents, 521 involved diabetic patients. About 7% of non-diabetics had been in a crash, against 4°/0 of diabetics.
Last week leading author Dr Katherine Mills told a conference in Glasgow that there is no significant difference in the rate of colli sions between diabetics and non-diabetics: "This suggests that this group of patients do not pose a risk to road safety and reiterates the need for an individualised risk based approach when considering driving restrictions rather than a simple blanket ban."
Mills warned that as more Type 2 diabetes patients are encouraged to use insulin, more would be disadvantaged by regulations.