Driving licence

[tif9549]

Hi, looking for advice about the DVLA.

I am a bus driver. I had some episodes of coughing and passing out about a year ago . I went to see my doctor and was refered to the hospital but they didn't find anything and didn't say anything about me not driving. I get a letter out of the blue 2 weeks ago telling me that they have received information from a "third party" that I did not disclose medical problems to them and that I was under an investigation. Today I get a letter saying that the DVLA's Doctor has looked at my case and has said that I won't be able to drive a bus for 5 years ........ but they are still letting me drive my car!

Does anyone know how to challenge this? My own doctors didn't say anything about not driving and odd that I can still drive my car if I'm so dangerous that I can't drive a bus. The letter says I can go to court but I would rather deal with it out of court. I'm going to see my doctor asap next week if I can get an appointment.

If you Google DVLA and cough syncope it will tell you all the rules. Yes any blackouts should be reported to your employer...I would have thought you would be told this when you get your bus driving licence. But accept may not be. I think it's been fairly topical since the Glasgow bin lorry tradgedy. However I do think the hospital should have discussed this with you. The rules for cars and buses are different. Might be worth getting copies of your letters from the hospital to your GP.

I believe all blackouts should be reported. So you could be in trouble for not doing so.

The bin lorry driver had a history of black outs, but had been feeling well for a couple of years I think and then passed out at the wheel and killed/maimed lots of people. It happened on 22 December 2014.

Tomorrow’s the 22nd December and those people and their families are all missing loved ones they lost five years ago. So sad.

If it were me I’d be inclined to never drive again until they got to the bottom of what was wrong with you, as it could still rear its ugly head and you don’t want to have the deaths of any people on your conscience, whether you drive a car, bus or bin lorry. I’d defo go back to my GP and ask what else they can do to work out the cause of your problems. Presumably once they work that out then can they work out the probability of future reoccurrences, which could help your situation?

Thanks I assumed when I got discharged from the heart specialists that there was nothing more I needed to do and that I was fine to drive. Will definitely speak to my doctor on Monday.