Alleviations and clarifications. The list of pathologies incompatible or compatible under certain conditions with driving (diabetes, Alzheimer’s, heavy motor and hearing disabilities, etc.) was updated on Monday April 4, the day following the publication of a stopped to Official newspaper. This decree of March 28 from the Ministries of the Interior and Health repeals the old text of December 21, 2005, mainly in order to take ” into account [des] scientific and technological innovations » in terms of fitting out the passenger compartment of vehicles and driving assistance in particular, specifies a communicated.
From now on, drivers with uncomplicated diabetes whose treatment does not generate a risk of hypoglycaemia are no longer required to pass a medical check beforehand to drive cars and two-wheelers.
People with very severe locomotor disabilities and severe hearing loss can now drive heavy goods vehicles and public transport vehicles, following an examination validated by an approved doctor and a driving license inspector.
Definitive incompatibility from stage 3 of Alzheimer’s
The decree also lifts bans on the driving of light vehicles for people with certain very severe locomotor disabilities. It also clarifies the moment from which a person suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and related neuro-evolutionary diseases can no longer drive.
While the previous decree set the limit at the time when the person is suffering from “documented dementia”that of March 28 specifies that there is definitive incompatibility with the behavior “from the start of stage 3 [sur sept] of the Reisberg scale »which measures disease progression. “This is when friends, family and colleagues start noticing certain memory or concentration problems. In practice, for driving, the person no longer pays attention to certain red lights, for example”explains road safety.
“For the person to stop driving at the right moment, the people around must be able to ‘organize things’. The decree clarifies this point, the dementia mentioned in the previous text being a vague concept.continues road safety.
Benoît Durand, director general of France Alzheimer, points to Agence France-Presse “a radical cleaver”. “The text says that, from the onset of cognitive decline and in particular pathological decline of the Alzheimer’s type, there is a total ban on driving, but who is going to decide? »he asks. “Often for a diagnosis, you need an appointment with the neurologist, which in some regions, is not obtained before delays of twelve to eighteen months”continues Mr. Durand, “What’s going on in the meantime? »
According to road safety, the decision will be taken by doctors approved by the prefectures for medical fitness to drive.
