Source: New Zealand Transport Agency
A new edition of Medical aspects of fitness to drive: a guide for health practitioners is now available for health practitioners to use when assessing a patient’s fitness to drive.
Medical assessments supported by Medical aspects of fitness to drive play an important part in determining if a patient is fit to drive or not. They also help medical practitioners and NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) decide if licence conditions are needed for road safety reasons.
Main changes include updated medical guidelines and standards, consideration of findings from coroner reports on road deaths linked to medical conditions, improved guidance around roles and responsibilities of health practitioner when assessing fitness to drive, and advising drivers about how their medical situation may affect their driving. For certain medical conditions, there are fewer restrictions on some people to be able to continue to drive.
“This new edition is an improved, easy to navigate and comprehensive tool to guide health practitioners in assessing if patients are fit and competent to drive safely,” says NZTA National Manager Regulatory Systems Design Chris Rodley.
“To review the guide, we’ve engaged with New Zealand experts in different medical fields and considered standards from Australia’s Austroads’ Assessing Fitness to Drive and medical research commissioned by Monash University. We then consulted with health professionals, medical bodies, impacted industry organisations and interest groups.”
A summary of the changes and the feedback we received during consultation is available online.
