OT: EU diktat may ban drivers who have diabeties

The link is an article from 2011. As far as I can tell, the rules it talks about are already in force and applied by the dvla.

Anything that the daily mail says about Europe can be safely ignored

The rules have been in place for several years and I don't think 1 million people lost their license as a result, I'm sure there would have been an uproar.

The article says "the rules amount to a blanket ban on diabetics taking insulin" so not all diabetics would be involved anyway. The last time I checked the DVLA said that if you were not on insulin then there is no need to notify them. Mind you, it still sounds like going overboard a bit.

It sounds like The Mail is just pressing the panic button again.

alpha7 said:

I apologize for this Off topic - but if it is true, is very important as it will affect diabetics.

Basically the link points to an article that says that the EU is planning to remove driving licenses from diabetics and this diktat is being withheld until after the vote on EU membership on 23rd June 2016.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/a...licence-EU-diabetes-diktat.html#ixzz41NoiNVgq

Click to expand...

That's an old article. It says:

"Under a new definition of the rules to meet an EU directive, a diabetic who has two hypos in a year – even while in bed – will end up banned from driving"

But those rules are already in place and no 'blanket ban' has happened.

I'm not sure where you saw the bit about the 'withheld diktat' either? Smells like anti-EU propaganda to me.
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Squire Fulwood said:

The article says "the rules amount to a blanket ban on diabetics taking insulin" so not all diabetics would be involved anyway. The last time I checked the DVLA said that if you were not on insulin then there is no need to notify them. Mind you, it still sounds like going overboard a bit.

It sounds like The Mail is just pressing the panic button again.

Click to expand...

There is no panic button. The article is from 2011. The rules it talks about are already in force and do NOT amount to a blanket ban on everyone taking insulin, the issue is if you are on insulin and have had 2 or more episodes of severe hypoglycaemia requiring 3rd party assistance within twelve months.

Propaganda. The article from the Mail is from 2011.

I shall trump this with the proposals that were knocking around in 2014 to give type 1 diabetics a ten year licence.

https://www.diabetes.org.uk/About_u...to-licencing-period-for-people-with-diabetes/

I suspect that there are quite a few professional drivers of larger vehicles and HGVs who would be grateful for the EU wide changes . Previously, if they had to use insulin they automatically lost their licence and therefore their jobs under the old UK rules .People in exactly the same position in several other European countries didn't lose their licence and could continue to drive all over Europe (including in the UK). Since these new regulations came in they can continue to have a British licence ( albeit with some understandably important safeguards)

It has been mentioned that here in the UK it is only necessary to inform the DVLA if you are a Type 1 diabetic on Insulin, well if you look closer into this you will find that a law has been approved and is on the British Statute Book that diabetes is one of a number of conditions in which the UK driver needs to confirm with the DVLA and seek approval before being officially allowed to drive here in the UK.
What most people don't realise is that this statuary law also applies equally to a Type 2 diabetic on any medications which might result in them going Hypo, so it's not only type 1's that are effected by this ruling. Generally a Type 2 is approved to drive here in the UK but the Law being the Law can and is sometimes enforced when the authorities see appropriate to do so. For this reason any diabetic whether Type 1, Type 2 or whatever other type of diabetes (excluding Gestational diabetes) is required to obtain the appropriate authorisation from the DVLA.
In the case of a Type 1 on INSULIN the applicant will be asked to provide their GP or Specialist's name so that confirmation is then sought that they have been free from going Hypo for many months and also have good control of their diabetes, and in the case of Type 2's (those not on INSULIN) they are sent a different form where having listed their diabetic medications they are then permitted to sign their own self-declaration stating that in their own opinion they are safe to drive.