Lift on diabetic driver ban may face further delays
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THE DVLA says it cannot guarantee that drivers who suffer from diabetes will be able to drive HGVs from August, as any changes to current legislation must he subject to a public consultation.
With only four months to go before European law states blanket bans on diabetes sufferers getting behind the wheel of a lorry must he overturned, the DVLA is now claiming there may not he time to meet the deadline, despite the European Commission announcing the change last September.
A government medical advisory committee says drivers with insulin-treated diabetes would need to obtain a report from their doctor.
Lwhich would be followed by an in
dependent assessment by a diabetologist. Drivers would then he subject to annual reviews.
However, before a nationwide network of medical experts is created, the changes must go out to public consultation.
A DV LA spokesman says: "DVLA cannot guarantee the timeframe for the introduction of any potential change to the medical standards because of the consultation and legislative process in the UK."
Diabetic driver Archie Meechan says:"1 don't know what the public consultation will entail. They have had the announcement, the information and the research. and still they haven't done it."