Patients with Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s will now be deprived of their driving license at the first signs of illnessaccording to a decree published in the Official Journal April 3, 2022.”Driving a motorized land vehicle requires physical, cognitive and sensory ability“, begins the decree. And if Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s patients are already subject to a medical opinion for driving, the government has just taken a new step forward.
The text updates “permanent incompatibility with driving for neuro-evolving pathologies such as Alzheimer’s disease and related diseases“. And the conclusion is heavy: “People with cognitive disorders linked to these pathologies should no longer drive at the onset of cognitive decline“, specifies the text.
Recognize everyone’s responsibilities
In addition to providing doctors with more precise definitions of incapacities or driving abilities and thus facilitate the exchange between doctors and driversthe text specifies the responsibility and role of each:
- The patient is “responsible” for his conduct: “No one can take the road if he is not able to drive, because of his pathology, his medical treatment, his consumption of psychoactive substances or his state of fatigue“, indicates the shared text on the road safety website ;
- The attending physician informs his patient of a potential incompatibility with driving if he is suffering from certain pathologies or with certain prescriptions;
- Finally, the approved doctor, him, “gives notice of temporary or permanent incompatibility or compatibility with or without conditions“.
A bad surprise for associations
Asked by France Info, the director general of France Alzheimer Benoît Durand confided his surprise at the announcement of this new measure. “I thought of a delayed April Fool’s Day, I don’t understand this decree, it’s coming too fast!“, he shared this April 3, 2022. The association has been participating in a study on the problem of driving for the sick “for a year”.
But the managing director also shares his concern about the person who will be responsible for the decision. “There may be a certain delay between the general practitioner who will pre-diagnose the cognitive disorders and the moment when the patient will see a neurologist who will make the diagnosis… In some departments, it can take from twelve to eighteen months before having an appointment; what happens during this waiting period?“, asks Benoît Durand.
Good news, however, for diabetic patients, for whom the decree eases driving conditions: those whose treatment does not generate a risk of hypoglycaemia will no longer be required to have the opinion of a licensed physician.
Sources:
- “Order of March 28, 2022 setting the list of medical conditions that are incompatible or compatible with or without adjustments or restrictions for obtaining, renewing or maintaining a driving license or which may give rise to the issue of driving licenses for a period of validity limited (recast)”, Légifrance, April 3, 2022
- “Diabetes, Alzheimer’s, heavy locomotor or hearing disabilities…”, Road Safety, April 3, 2022
- Road safety: France Alzheimer “surprised” by the decree prohibiting driving for patients with a neuro-evolutionary pathology, France InfoApril 3, 2022
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