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BMA advising GPs that road safety is a priority

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aidan.f:
News today, apparently many GPs feel uncomfortable reporting patients they consider incapable of driving safely to the DVLA due to issues of patient confidentiality.
New advice from the BMA is that road safety should be a priority

Pancho:
I think this is wrong. Patient confidentiality should be the only priority.

If road safety is a priority (which it patently ain't with thousands killed every year) then regular medicals should be a requirement of holding a licence.

Guy:

--- Quote from: Pancho on 25 November, 2015, 07:58:43 am ---I think this is wrong. Patient confidentiality should be the only priority.

If road safety is a priority (which it patently ain't with thousands killed every year) then regular medicals should be a requirement of holding a licence.

--- End quote ---

So you're saying, under the current system the medically unfit person's right to use their car to kill someone outweighs my right to use the roads in safety. Nice.

DDCyclist:
Beware unintended consequences.

If GPs are required to report unfit drivers to the DVLA many people will delay seeing the doctor just so they can continue driving. As a result many will not get perfectly manageable conditions treated - possibly even some that wouldn't affect driving. This might even result in an increase in the number of unsafe drivers on the roads.

It might also lead to some GPs getting people banned from driving unnecessarily as a result of 'taking the safe option'.

I'm against GPs being forced to do this. If anything there should be a penalty for not heeding a GP warning and an increased penalty for not heeding advice from a consultant. The penalty for not heeding a warning which leads to a serious incident should be very severe.

Cudzoziemiec:
The point about regular medicals is a good one. If DVLA were serious about ensuring medically unfit drivers were not allowed to drive, it would call licence holders in for regular checks itself, rather than relying on GPs as its go-between. In fact, AIUI this is already the process for HGV (and PCV?) licences, so this would not be so radical.

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