Diabetic drivers back in lighter vehicles
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• by Sally Nash The government has finally overturned the controversial ban on all insulin-dependent diabetic drivers of vehicles between 3.5 tonnes and 7.5 tonnes, after years of campaigning by lobbyists.
Last week it put forward proposals to relax the ban, which are likely to take effect from :spring 2001. Under the proposals drivers will be subject to individual medical assessments. However, diabetic drivers of vehicles over 7.5 tonnes are not covered by the change in policy, and are still banned.
The move is the latest incident in a long-running saga involving diabetic drivers. The UK government introduced the ban on 1January 1998, follow1 ing an EU directive which ruled that diabetic drivers were allowed to drive large vehicles only in "exceptional circumstances".
Concern was expressed at the time that dia betic drivers could suffer hypoglycaemia and so posed a safety risk.
However, earlier this year the House of Commons Science and Technology select committee hit out at the government's blanket ban, saying the rules on medium-sized vehicles were "illogical and inconsistent".
Diabetes UK, which has been lobbying for some time to persuade the government to abandon the ban, says the U-turn is "a great step forward". But it has vowed to continue its fight for the same treatment for HGV drivers and drivers of passenger carriers and minibuses.
Tory shadow transport minister Bernard Jenkin argues that it was not up to the EU to decide who was fit to drive in the first place.
"Diabetic truck and van drivers have lost their jobs over the past two years, and now they find they are entitled to drive after all."