Motoring after brain injury (view report contents)
Driving after a brain injury
In this section we give details of how a brain injury might affect your driving and what you can do to meet both these challenges and legal and insurance requirements:
Driving after a brain injury
Effects
Legal matters
Driving ability assessment
When driving
Driving after a brain injury
Over 170,000 people have a brain injury each year. Most are the result of an accident – on the road, at home, at work or from an assault. Non accidental causes of brain injury include infection, stroke, haemorrhage and surgery.
Although you may feel able to carry on driving after a brain injury, don’t be in a hurry. It can take time to recover and to discover what the long term effects of the injury are. One symptom is that you may not be a good judge of what you are able to do. Some people have an unrealistic understanding of the effects of their injury and may not even realise they have a problem. On the other hand, you may find that your family and friends are over protective and discourage you from driving when you may be able to do so safely, but see Legal matters below.
For these reasons, the most important piece of advice we can give is to get an independent assessment, see Driving ability assessment below. This will tell you what can be done and provide reassurance, as well as pointing you towards expert tuition, sources of adaptations and any financial help.
Effects of brain injury
Driving involves judgement and thought as well as physical action. Brain injury can affect all of these and any injury that has meant a stay in hospital for more than a day or two may affect your ability to drive.
Epilepsy stops many brain injured people driving. Some types of injury mean there is a high risk of epilepsy, particularly if it has involved brain surgery. If your injury puts you at risk, you will not be allowed to drive for at least a year, even though you might never have had a fit. If you have had a fit, you will not be licensed to drive for a year afterwards. Medication can control fits, but if your medication is changed, you should stop driving while you adjust to it.
Brain injury can affect your sight. To drive you must be able to read a standard size number plate (with glasses or lenses if you normally wear them) from 20.5 metres (67 feet) away or 20 metres (65 feet) where narrower characters are used. You must also have a sufficiently wide field of vision – some people who have a brain injury have to turn their head to see to the side. The injury can also cause double vision (you may have to wear an eye patch), cause jerky eye movements (Nystagmus) or have other symptoms that can affect your judgement of speed, distance and depth. Often people with these problems are unaware of them. An orthoptist or ophthalmologist (they specialise in injuries to and diseases of the eye) will need to assess and treat any visual impairment you have.
Brain injury is unlikely to result in physical disabilities alone, although you may have these too, particularly if you have been injured in a road accident. They can include paralysis of part of the body, loss of feelings of touch and you may have less control over some movements. Some people become less coordinated. These are very unlikely to stop you driving. Choosing a car with the right features or fitting the right adaptations can overcome them. See Products and techniques and our Car Controls guide for more information.
Symptoms that affect thinking can make a difference to your driving. These can include:
- Gaps in concentration. You may be easily distracted, get muddled when there is a lot going on or just lose track.
- Patchy memory.
- Reduced ability to read the road or work out what is happening in complex situations. For example you may not notice a stop sign.
- Reduced ability to reach the right decision in time, or to correctly gauge such things as speed and distance. Some people can’t foresee the consequences of actions or situations.
- Slow reactions.
- Reduced ability to control temper.
All of these can improve with time. Although most people keep many of
the driving skills they had before the injury, specialist driving lessons
may be needed. These will help you learn how to deal with the effects
of the injury and how to change the way you drive. Be prepared for this
to take time – the injury may mean that you need short, frequent
lessons over a longer period than you might expect.
Legal matters
Driving if you are unfit to do so is illegal. You must tell the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) and your insurance company about your injury.
It is likely that your licence will be withdrawn for, say, six months or a year. After that you can reapply. Your condition will be monitored during this time. With your permission the DVLA will consult your GP or hospital consultant. From this the DVLA decides if you are fit to drive. Possible outcomes are:
- Keeping your full licence.
- Being issued with a time-limited licence, which would be reviewed after this period.
- Being issued with a licence to drive only automatics or suitably adapted vehicles.
- The DVLA may ask you to take a driving test or go to a Mobility Centre for an assessment.
- If your full licence is withdrawn, you may be given a Provisional Disability Assessment Licence, for taking an assessment and any following training.
If the DVLA do not think it would be safe for you to drive, they will withdraw your licence – they will tell you how to appeal.
If you are a professional driver more demanding medical standards apply.
You must tell the DVLA if your condition gets worse or if anything else affects your ability to drive.
For further information on getting a driving licence, go to www.dvla.gov.uk or get What you need to know about driving licences (D100) from a post office.
Driving ability assessment
Many people are unaware of some of the ways in which a brain injury has affected their driving. If there is any doubt at all about this, an expert assessment is essential. Mobility Centres provide impartial assessments. These generally include driving on local roads. The centre will tell you:
if your injury means you should drive or not the effect that your injury has had on seeing or thinking, how this might affect your driving and how to modify it accordingly what car adaptations will help overcome any physical impairments.
If you can drive, the assessment should reduce any anxiety you or your family may have about your ability to do so competently and safely. If your injury means that you feel less confident about driving, the centre may advise you about how to build it up again. If you are over confident, they may work out a programme which will help you develop a more realistic view and safer approach.
If you have never driven, an assessment will tell you if your injury is likely to affect your ability to learn, before going to the expense of having specialist lessons. If you can learn, the assessment will provide information that will help the instructor. If you get the Higher Rate Mobility Component of the Disability Living Allowance, you can apply for a driving licence when you are 16.
When driving
- alcohol can have a greater affect on people who have had a brain injury. Don’t drink and drive
- ask your doctor if any medication you take will affect your driving
- you may get tired more quickly than you used to. Allow for breaks
Report Contents
About
this guide
Motoring
after brain injury
Choosing
a car
Plan
of action
Products
and techniques
Getting
in and out
Primary
controls
Secondary
controls
Finance
Further
information
Helpful
organisations
