Doctors may be required to inform on impaired drivers

DOCTORS MAY be legally required to inform licencing authorities of an illness or condition that could impair their patient’s ability to drive under a review of fitness-to-drive rules. Currently, the onus is on the driver to tell the authorities.

The proposal is one of a number of policies used in other countries and being considered by the Road Safety Authority as part of a move to update the rules governing a motorist’s medical fitness to drive.

This legal requirement is used in New Zealand and a number of Australian states, but would be seen as controversial were it introduced here, as it would be seen as impinging on the doctor-patient relationship.

Co Kerry GP and member of the Irish College of General Practitioners, Dr Eamonn Shanahan, said mandatory reporting requirements were “invidious for a GP, who has a therapeutic relationship with a patient”.

“It would be far better to have a requirement to refer a patient to an independent, objective expert, such as a police surgeon.” He said the RSA should also reduce the length of time for which a licence remains valid. “A 20-year-old can get a licence and not be tested again for 50 years. And, yet, we have to be careful too, because for many – particularly elderly people – a car can be socially essential,” he said.

At present, 245,298 Irish car drivers, or around 11.5 per cent of the total, have submitted a medical report to support their application for a driving licence.

In other EU member states, all applicants for a car licence are required to have a medical examination and, in some countries, this is carried out by doctors trained in traffic medicine.