Driving a motor vehicle is a complex task involving perception, appropriate judgement, adequate response time and reasonable physical capability. A range of medical conditions, as well as certain treatments, may impair any of these factors. Such impairment may adversely affect driving ability, possibly resulting in a crash causing death or injury. Given the many causal factors in motor vehicle crashes, the extent to which medical conditions and treatments contribute is difficult to assess. There is, however, international recognition of the potential for certain conditions to cause serious impairment and thus recognition of the need for medical standards to be established and applied. There is also recognition that the standards for drivers of certain commercial vehicles such as heavy vehicles, passenger vehicles and bulk dangerous goods vehicles must be more stringent than those for private drivers. Commercial vehicle crashes, for example, may present a severe threat to passengers, road users and residents adjacent to the road. Such crashes also present potential threats in terms of spillage of chemicals, fire and other significant property damage. This publication combines the medical standards for commercial and private vehicle drivers and replaces the publications `Assessing Fitness to Drive 2001' and `Medical Examinations for Commercial Vehicle Drivers 1997'. The primary purpose of this publication is to increase road safety in Australia by assisting health professionals to: * Assess the fitness to drive of their patients in a consistent and appropriate manner, based on current medical evidence. * Promote the responsible behaviour of their patients having regard to their medical fitness. * Conduct medical examinations for the licensing of drivers as required by State and Territory Driver Licensing Authorities. * Make recommendations regarding conditional licenses. * Recognise the extent and limits of their professional and legal obligations with respect to reporting fitness to drive. (Author/publisher) For the first edition see ST 20000427; for the second edition see C 25374.
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