Assessing Fitness to Drive - Austroads

1 Assessing Fitness to Drivefor commercial and private vehicle drivers2016 Medical standards for licensing and clinical management guidelinesAustroadsLevel 9, 287 Elizabeth StreetSYDNEY NSW 2000 AustraliaPhone: +61 2 8265 amended up to August 2017 Assessing Fitness to Drivefor commercial and private vehicle driversHelp for professionalsFor guidance in Assessing a patient s Fitness to Drive contact your State or Territory driver licensing authority (see Appendix 9 for details). Information is also available from the Austroads website: Fitness to Drive First Published 1998 Second Edition 2001 Third Edition 2003 Reprinted 2006 Fourth Edition 2012 Reprinted 2013 Fifth Edition 2016 Reprinted 2017 Austroads Ltd 2017 This work is copyright.

2 Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without the prior written permission of Austroads . National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication data: Assessing Fitness to Drive 2016 as amended up to August 2017 ISBN: 978-1-925451-95-5 Austroads Publication Number: AP-G56-17 Design and typesetting: d fa DesignPublished by Austroads Ltd Level 9, Robell House 287 Elizabeth Street Sydney NSW 2000 Australia Phone: +61 2 8265 3300 Fax: +61 2 8265 3399 Email: Austroads believes this publication to be correct at the time of printing and does not accept responsibility for any consequences arising from the use of information herein.

3 Readers should rely on their own skill and judgement to apply information to particular issues. Document History1 September 2016 Document first August 2017 Corrections relating to repaired abdominal and thoracic aneurysms to reflect agreed policy (page 51) and visual aids (page 127). Contact details updated in Appendix Fitness to Drivefor commercial and private vehicle drivers2016 Medical standards for licensing and clinical management guidelinesa resource for health professionals in AustraliaAs amended up to August 2017ivAssessing Fitness to Drive 2016 AustroadsAustroads is the peak organisation of Australasian road transport and traffic purpose is to support our member organisations to deliver an improved Australasian road transport network.

4 To succeed in this task, we undertake leading-edge road and transport research which underpins our input to policy development and published guidance on the design, construction and management of the road network and its associated infrastructure. Austroads provides a collective approach that delivers value for money, encourages shared knowledge and drives consistency for road is governed by a Board consisting of senior executive representatives from each of its eleven member organisations: Roads and Maritime Services New South Wales Roads Corporation Victoria Department of Transport and Main Roads Queensland Main Roads Western Australia Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure South Australia Department of State Growth Tasmania Department of Transport Northern Territory Territory and Municipal Services Directorate, Australian Capital Territory Commonwealth Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development Australian Local Government Association new zealand Transport Transport CommissionThe National Transport Commission is an inter-governmental agency charged with improving the productivity.

5 Safety and environmental performance of Australia s road, rail and intermodal transport an independent statutory body, the NTC develops and submits reform recommendations for approval to the Transport and Infrastructure Council, which comprises federal, state and territory transport, infrastructure and planning NTC also plays an important role in implementation planning to ensure reform outcomes are realised on the ground, as well as coordinating, monitoring, evaluating and maintaining the implementation of approved reforms. NTC s visionAustralia s prosperity and community liveability is enhanced by the movement of people and s missionTo champion and facilitate changes that improve productivity, safety and environmental s roleBy developing national regulatory and operational reform and implementation strategies for road, rail and intermodal Fitness to Drive 2016 EndorsementsThese standards are endorsed by.

6 Australasian Chapter of Addiction Medicine Australian Diabetes Society Australasian Faculty of Occupational and Environmental Medicine Australian and new zealand Association of Neurologists Australasian Sleep Association Epilepsy Society of Australia Occupational Therapy Australia Optometry Australia Royal Australian and new zealand College of Ophthalmologists Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine Royal Australian College of Physicians Australasian Faculty of Rehabilitation MedicineviAssessing Fitness to Drive 2016 AcknowledgementsSetting these standards involved extensive consultation across a wide range of stakeholders including regulators, employers and health professionals. The NTC and Austroads gratefully acknowledge all contributors including the members of the Maintenance Advisory Group and various working groups, and the project team and consultants.

7 In particular, the contributions of various health professional organisations and individual health professionals are recognised as invaluable to the review Advisory GroupAustroads Ms Cheryl RicheyDepartment of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure, South Australia Ms Jean PhillipsDepartment of Transport and Main Roads, Queensland Ms Trudy StruberRoads and Maritime Services, New South Wales Ms Mary DrewettTransport for New South Wales Ms Irene SiuVicRoads Dr Marilyn Di Stefano Ms Robyn SeymourAustralian College of Rural and Remote Medicine Dr Ken MackeyAustralasian Faculty of Occupational and Environmental Medicine Dr Bruce HockingRoyal Australian College of General Practitioners Dr Nigel StocksVictorian Institute of Forensic Medicine Associate Professor Morris OdellAustralian Trucking Association Ms Louise Bilato Mr Bill McKinleyOlder driver/multiple medical conditions working groupVicRoads Ms Fiona MorrisRoyal Australian College of General Practitioners Dr Nigel StocksOccupational Therapy Australia Dr Angela Berndt Associate Professor Stacey George Professor

8 Carolyn UnsworthMonash University of Accident Research Centre Associate Professor Judith Charlton Dr Sjaan KoppelVictorian Institute of Forensic Medicine Associate Professor Morris OdellAlzheimer s Australia Ms Jenny PhilippviiAssessing Fitness to Drive 2016 Diabetes working groupAustralian Diabetes Society Professor Stephen TwiggDiabetes Australia Ms Renza ScibiliaAustralian Diabetes Educators Association Ms Toni Rice Mr Brett FentonAustralian College of Rural and Remote Medicine Dr Ken MackeyDepartment of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure, South Australia Ms Jean PhillipsHearing working groupConsultant audiologist Dr Ross Dineen Deaf Australia Mr Kyle MiersDeaf Victoria Ms Melissa LowrieRoads and Maritime Services, New South Wales Ms Mary DrewittAustralian Trucking Association Mr Alex StojanovicVision working groupRoyal Australian and new zealand College of Ophthalmologists Dr Paul Beaumont Dr Michael Delaney Mr Gerhard SchlentherUniversity of Sydney, Discipline of Orthoptics The Hon.

9 Research Associate Neryla JollyOptometry Australia Mr Luke ArundelNational Transport CommissionMs Belinda Irwin Mr Paul Davies Ms Tania WilsonConsultants: Project HealthDr Bruce Hocking Ms Fiona Landgren viiiAssessing Fitness to Drive 2016 Contributing health professional organisationsThe following organisations contributed substantially to the review process:Australian and new zealand Association of Neurologists Australian Diabetes Educators Association Australian Diabetes Society Australasian Sleep Association Cardiac Society of Australia and new zealand Epilepsy Society of Australia Occupational Therapy Australia Optometry Australia Royal Australian and new zealand College of Ophthalmologists Royal Australasian College of Physicians Chapter of Addiction Medicine Royal Australasian College of Physicians Australasian Faculty of Occupational and Environmental MedicineContributing consumer health organisationsAlzheimer s Australia Deaf Australia Deaf Victoria Diabetes AustraliaLegal disclaimerThese licensing standards and management guidelines have

10 Been compiled using all reasonable care, based on expert medical opinion and relevant literature, and Austroads believes them to be correct at the time of printing. However, neither Austroads nor the authors accept responsibility for any consequences arising from their professionals should maintain an awareness of any changes in healthcare and health technology that may affect their assessment of drivers. Health professionals should also maintain an awareness of changes in the law that may affect their legal there are concerns about a particular set of circumstances relating to ethical or legal issues, advice may be sought from the health professional s medical defence organisation or legal queries about the standards should be directed to the relevant driver licensing authority.