Can I still drive with dementia?

Receiving a dementia diagnosis does not automatically mean that you lose the right to drive. It all depends on your personal circumstances, when you received the diagnosis and whether it is safe for you to continue driving. 

Many of us have learnt how to drive from a young age, so will have many years’ experience in driving a vehicle. However the process of driving uses a lot of different parts of your memory and motor functions. As we all know, the ability to concentrate and remain calm is an important part of driving, which can be trying when you have noisy children in the car. A dementia patient will take longer to be able to carry out a task, than someone without dementia, particularly as their cognitive function is impacted (the way in which we approach tasks). Therefore, despite these years’ of experience, as a dementia patient you may find that driving becomes more unnerving, or challenging. You might find it more difficult to remember which gear you need to be in, when you get to 30 miles an hour, or to keep an eye on the different road signs and remember what they mean in terms of speed, as well as controlling your car. 

In reality, it all depends on how you are functioning, how the disease is progressing and being honest about whether you can safely travel on your journey, without being a risk to yourself, someone else on the road or even pedestrians around you. 

If you are driving, ask someone to come with you, or as a relative, ensure that you check on how the dementia patient is driving. It can be challenging having the conversation, as often dementia patients wish to hold onto their independence. Remind them that they can still do this in other ways and that it is for the safety of others too, but be sympathetic as to how they are feeling. 

Advise for UK residents

Inform DVLA

Once you have received a dementia diagnosis, you must inform DVLA of this, or any other medical condition which may affect your driving. You can be fined up to £1000 and prosecuted if you have an accident and failed to tell DVLA of your illness. 

The DVLA will write to your doctor for further information and will want to understand what other illnesses you may have that can affect your driving. You might be invited to take part in an assessment to see your driving in action. If you have been diagnosed with Lewys Body dementia, it is unlikely that you will be allowed to drive. The fact that this type of disease contains hallucinations, makes it more dangerous for a person with this dementia diagnosis to continue to drive.

If DVLA confirms that you are still able to continue driving, they will issue you with a new medical licence, which is limited to up to three years, although usually just for 1 year. You will be assessed to see if you are safe to drive throughout this period and at any time, the DVLA can rescind your licence and ask you to surrender it. 

More details on dementia diagnosis as driving licences can be found from the DVLA or on the Gov.uk website.