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.
