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Licence revoked

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S

Stan

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
I have been a Type2 Diabetic for more years than I can remember, at least 25 years and apart from changing tablets as the years go by have suffered no complications and have always been able to maintain my blood-sugar at a level satisfactory to the nurse I have visited regularly, the aim always being to keep it low.

However, a couple of months ago I had a driving accident when I temporarily lost control and landed up on a roundabout having hit one of the signs. The only explanation I could offer was that because of circumstances beyond my control I had had very little food over the preceding 36 hours.

I did not require any assistance, walked off the roundabout and reported the incident to the police myself.

The eventual upshot was that the DVLA medical decided I had suffered a severe hypo and revoked my licence.

The letter covering the revocation seemed to suggest there was a possibility that the issue might be looked at with further information so I wrote back asking them to review the situation in the light that the hypo was basically self-inflicted and would not happen again.

This letter was ignored and I had a series of unhelpful messages from a variety of individuals, each ignoring the previous correspondence even though I quoted their reference in every case.

At no time have I been able to extract something to say they have reviewed the matter and I have given up in frustration. However the last letter did contain the only sensible remark to date ? it said that one could re-apply for a licence if one has had fewer than two hypos in the 12 months before the application, which was not clear before.

I have come to accept that their rules say that a hypo while driving results in revocation so I must wait the mandatory year.

I apologise for the lengthy explanation before getting to my question which is, what are the chances of getting my licence back when I re-apply having had a year of no hypos.

Does anyone know of any case such as this where a licence has been granted?

Stan
 
Hi Stan, welcome to the forum 🙂 I can't answer your question as I don't drive, but hopefully someone will be along to help. Are you on medication that can cause hypos? Do you suffer from them at all, and were you able to test your blood sugar levels after the accident? If you don't normally suffer hypos then I would have thought it would be speculation that assumed it was due to a hypo - there may have been other reasons for a momentary lapse of concentration. After the accident, did you have anything sugary to eat? Again, if you were having a hypo it would probably have persisted after the accident without treatment, yet you were able to deal with the situation quite well. I would be unlikely to be able to act as you did after a severe hypo.

If you are not prone to hypos then again I would have thought that your doctor could support your appeal.
 
Hi Stan. I can't offer any encouragement or words of wisdom, but I would imagine that 12 months hypo free and you will at least be seen as under control and taking proper care of yourself.

I would imagine it's irrelevant to them the reasons behind the hypo, since they want to avoid accidents, rather than apportion blame. As long as you can show you've not had any hypos in 12 months then you're within the criteria. Good luck. 🙂

Rob
 
Robster65 said:
Hi Stan. I can't offer any encouragement or words of wisdom, but I would imagine that 12 months hypo free and you will at least be seen as under control and taking proper care of yourself.

I would imagine it's irrelevant to them the reasons behind the hypo, since they want to avoid accidents, rather than apportion blame. As long as you can show you've not had any hypos in 12 months then you're within the criteria. Good luck. 🙂

Rob
Click to expand...

I can't offer any pearls of wisdom; I do drive but don't have a car :( The same rules apply to those with epilepsy, if you have a seizure and its reported to your GP then you're licence is revoked for 12 months; I only know this because my colleague at work has had her licence revoked but as had at least half-a-dozen siezures during the 12 month period; mainly because of her change of medication. Amanda
 
The term "mandatory" would effectively mean a ban and I'm not sure that is the case nor allowed. My understanding is you have to prove you are in control of your BG levels and have a doctor support your claim in order to get your licence back.
You would need three months of testing information to do that.

Also it is two hypos that mean revocation unless there are other factors involved. I also believe it is only those with type 1 and insulin dependent type 2's that are covered by these rules, somebody on just tablets doesn't even have a requirement to test.

I can't help with specifics but I would certainly be looking into the DVLA appeals procedure and maybe taking some legal advice, as I put great value on my licence.

On a different note, my licence was revoked when I declared my trpe 1 condition but was re-issued as a three year licence. Now you have declared your hypo and had an accident are you sure that the same hasn't happened and that your licence isn't now a "full UK restricted" type like mine.
 
Hi & welcome Stan.
I'll move this to the Driving / DVLA section, where there's lots more discussion of similar topics.
The key point now is "hypos requiring assistance" - requiring, not receiving, assistance.
 
Having just recently registered myself as starting on insulin back around the 1st of July 2011 I was notified overt the phone by a lady at the dvla that there is no requirement to notify the dvla if you are type 2 and taking tablets yet the tablets I used to be on Gliclazide caused hypos if you didn't eat on time every evening.

In reply to the poster of this thread

I assume because you were honest about not having much food in the last 36 hours they penalized you for your honesty it doesn't always pay to be honest unfortunately. basically they deduced that you are not in control of your condition because you hadn't had much to eat in the previous 36 hours by the looks of it.

I also thought that no hypos in 12 months meant hypos that needed assistants from another person ie your other half or attendance by an ambulance crew.
I thought that hypos detected by you are deemed control able because you are able to detect them.

regards Nigel.
 
One wonders if indeed it was a hypo judging from some of the above and your own comments Stan. Didn't slip on some spilt diesel did you?
 
The eventual upshot was that the DVLA medical decided I had suffered a severe hypo and revoked my licence.
Click to expand...

So have they any proof of this?
What medication are you on as you haven't stated this?
How did you walk away if you had a severe hypo, did you treat yourself at the scene or at any time for a servere hypo? If not then please do point out to DVLA this is the case.
How did the DVLA know about the accident?
 
Many thanks to everyone who has responded, bringing up quite a few questions and giving me much food for thought.

I will reply to each point as soon as I have time - in the meantime it appears that no-one has heard of anyone getting their licence back after revocation
 
Stan said:
I will reply to each point as soon as I have time - in the meantime it appears that no-one has heard of anyone getting their licence back after revocation
Click to expand...

Theres a few people who have managed it on other forums.
 
Northener and Slipper, you have made me wonder if indeed I did have a hypo. I accepted the DVLA conclusion thinking that maybe my fully aware and conscious state after the incident might be due to a rush of adrenalin or something similar. I cannot think of anything else to explain what happened, and due to the difficulty of having a meaningful exchange with DVLA medical have decided to go along with them, not make waves and hope that after a year of no hypos they will let me have my licence back. That is why I am seeking some encouragement in the form of someone who has managed to get theirs back

PumperSue - I think the police probably informed the DVLA

ypauly.I have looked at the DVLA "appeals procedure" and frankly they make it look too iffy to go down that route. I could be quitescathing about my dealings with DVLA Medical, but as I said above, I am not making waves which might be used against me when eventually I reapply.
Re a restricted licence, I had to return mine and so do not have one at all

Re your last post I would be grateful if you could point me to one or more other forums

Once again, thanks all for your input
 
Licence revocation

Hello Stan

I lost my licence at the beginning of August due to a report by my GP that that I no longer could detect the onset of hypos. I persuaded my diabetic consultant at my local hospital to write to the DVLA stating that my sensitivity to hypos was modified rather than absent. The DVLA have now reconsidered their decision and have given me a licence for one year. So my advice is to enlist the help of a sympathetic doctor. I think you're right: they do not appear to take much notice of anything we might say, but I'm certain that the consultant's letter did the trick.

Best wishes

Tom
PS This is the first blog I have ever written, so apologies if I haven't got the protocol quite right
 
Welcome Bebopper. Don't worry about "protocol", just join in!
 
Licence Revocation

Thanks Copepod

OK I'll do just that. By the way what's Type 1.5. Is it type 2 on insulin? If so that's me.

Toodlepip

Bebopper
 
Type 1.5 is an unofficial term for people with slow onset type 1 diabetes such as MODY (Maturity Onset Diabetes of the Young) or LADA (Latent Autoimmune Diabetes of Adulthood). Most do need insulin eventually.

Some people on these boards choose to designate themselves in their signatures (which appears beneath each post) as eg type 2 diabetes - on insulin; or type 2 diabetes plus names insulins and other drugs taken.

You might also like to introduce yourself in the "Newbies say hello here!" section, where more people will read your post and welcome you.
 
Stan said:
Northener and Slipper, you have made me wonder if indeed I did have a hypo. I accepted the DVLA conclusion thinking that maybe my fully aware and conscious state after the incident might be due to a rush of adrenalin or something similar. I cannot think of anything else to explain what happened, and due to the difficulty of having a meaningful exchange with DVLA medical have decided to go along with them, not make waves and hope that after a year of no hypos they will let me have my licence back. That is why I am seeking some encouragement in the form of someone who has managed to get theirs back

PumperSue - I think the police probably informed the DVLA

ypauly.I have looked at the DVLA "appeals procedure" and frankly they make it look too iffy to go down that route. I could be quitescathing about my dealings with DVLA Medical, but as I said above, I am not making waves which might be used against me when eventually I reapply.
Re a restricted licence, I had to return mine and so do not have one at all

Re your last post I would be grateful if you could point me to one or more other forums

Once again, thanks all for your input
Click to expand...

Hi Stan, you can try: http://www.diabetes.co.uk
or: http://www.diabetes-support.org.uk

I would assume that as you have had an accident whilst driving the DVLA would take it a bit more seriously than just the technical ' being helped' ruling for a hypo. If you don't remember the cause of the accident are you not worried that if it isn't a hypo (are you on meds that could cause a hypo) then maybe you blacked out - either way you should be more concerned with identifying the cause, have you spoken to your GP about it? It might have been a bus queue of people you ran over and not a roundabout sign!
 
Hi Stan,

I've just seen your message that you sent me regarding my husband's licence being revoked. I'm just gonna look our paperwork and I'll post a reply to your questions. Sorry to hear about your licence being revoked - I'm afraid I probably won't have very positive answers for you as we are still waiting to hear from the DVLA :(

lovethediabetic
 
Hi Stan - I hope this helps :confused:

Okay, we reapplied for his licence on a D1 form ticking the boxes 'Renew my licence .... For medical reasons .... Because it was revoked ... etc.' We also filled in the DIAB1 (Medical Fitness to Drive) form giving all medical details etc. This was sent off to the DVLA back in April.

They then wrote to us in May asking for written support from our GP confirming my husband's fitness to drive. Our GP wrote us a letter which we sent to the DVLA beginning of June.

They then wrote to us again saying they had now written to our GP asking for more information! I think the letter included a short questionnaire but I'm afraid I don't know the sort of questions they asked. Anyway the DVLA wrote to us again last month saying they had now received all the info required, the medical people would consider it and they would let us know within 6 weeks.

I'm afraid that I can't paint anything positive with our situation for you. It has now been nearly 18 months since the incident and 10 months since the licence was revoked. We are just hoping upon hope that the next time the DVLA write to us it will be with good news🙂

Good luck with everything that you are doing - please let us know how you are getting on!

Best wishes.
 
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