Diabetes can affect your driving ability by:
- causing loss of consciousness
- impairing your perception or motor skills
- affecting your vision or heart
- causing loss of sensation in your hands or feet.
Shift workers with diabetes should take extra care to keep meals regular, especially heavy vehicle operators. It is important to follow your prescribed treatment to avoid hypoglycaemia.
Don’t drive after a hypoglycaemic episode until your doctor is satisfied that it hasn’t affected your ability to drive safely. Hypoglycaemia (hypo’s) is the main hazard for diabetic drivers. Hypo’s can be caused by changing or not taking your medication, physical exertion and irregular meals.
The law states that you must report any medical condition that could affect your driving. A medical review will assess your ability to drive safely and hold a licence.
If diabetes has affected the sensation in your hands and feet, you may be issued with a conditional driver licence for driving a modified vehicle. You may need to undertake an Occupational Therapy Driver Assessment [PDF, 175KB, 8pp] as part of your medical review.
Heavy vehicle drivers must meet strict safety guidelines. A medical review will assess your ability to drive safely and hold a licence.
If you have insulin dependent diabetes you may not be able to drive a heavy vehicle. Special consideration may be given if:
- you can demonstrate effective diabetic control over a long period of time
- a specialist medical report suggests that you meet the national standards.