Driving (specifically, GP Assessment)

Hello,

I'm glad to hear that your father has recovered so well post stroke.

The Returning to Driving process can be difficult at times to navigate, but it is good to be thorough.

I have attached the Stroke Foundation return to Driving fact sheet link here which steps through the process for you. 

Driving fact sheet | enableme - stroke recovery and support

In answering your question- a successful "GP assessment" means that your father will require a Medical Clearance to return to driving. Your father's GP may be happy to do this or your father may require a neurologist to complete this.  The fitness to drive paperwork (which is slightly different in each state)  for the GP/neurologist to complete  is online and often the GP/Neurologist will submit this on the patient's behalf.

It is recommended to also check with your licensing authority and to know the rules in your state.

If your father drives without obtaining medical clearance, or fails to inform the licensing authority of his health condition, he might be criminally liable if he has an accident. Also, his insurance will not cover him.

If your father is required to complete an Occupational Therapy driver assessment, please give one of our health professionals a call on  StrokeLine 800 787 653 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm) or email strokeline@strokefoundation.org.au)  as we can help you navigate this next process and explain to you in detail what the requirements of this are and help you prepare.

I hope this is helpful

Best wishes,

Alicia

Thanks Alicia for the useful information.. I'm not sure why I hadn't thought to call the Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) directly to get the specifics from their point of view.

I'm not sure what state you are in but I recently had to go through this process in Tasmania. 

Four weeks after my stroke my GP completed the form which I lodged the same day  with Service Tasmania. I thought at that point I was clear to drive but 10 days later got a letter from Transport, licensing dept. which gave me a date I could start driving again. This date was actually seven weeks after my stroke and I had to pay a fee and a new licence was issued. Until this process was completed I was not cleared to drive. 

If I had driven and had an accident my insurance would not have covered me because I was technically an unlicensed driver.

Hi Jennifer,

Thanks for your reply.. unsurprisingly the rules in NSW are different. :-)

Once prompted, I did call the RMS (government body that deals with roads, licenses, etc in NSW) and the person that I spoke to was extremely helpful. The rules here are.. no driving for 4 weeks, then see GP for medical assessment. Assuming the GP believes that you are safe to drive, they fill in and submit online (and in front of you) a standard "fitness to drive medical assessment form".. exactly the same form as is used for yearly driver medical assessment once your age is 75 years or older. At that point, you are legally allowed to drive again. The RMS does reserve the right to come back later and review your individual case.. but I am told that is a rare thing. I did record the phone call, for the sake of having a record (the RMS person assisting me agreed to me recording the call up front).

Hey Unique,

You may want to reach out to Setten. He lives in NSW and is back to driving. He's shared his experience in a blog series too.

Hi Diana,

Thankfully, with respect to driving, my father's was a best case scenario (this time).. a stark contrast to Setten's case (and that of many other's). :-(

Although my Father's stroke wasn't minor(size of infarct), the consequences were relatively minor and he got back to a good approximation of normal within a few weeks.

Although the stroke was a horrible experience for all of us, we have come to appreciate that my father was extremely fortunate relative to others.

For anyone reading my earlier comments, I hope I haven't set inappropriate expectations.. with regard to driving in NSW, the case/rules/result that I described really are the "best case" at one end of a very wide spectrum.

Hello, I had my stroke in mid JAnuary this year and am still undergoing rehab and unable to work at this stage. My rehab specialist who determines whether and when I can return to work has also said that I am unable to drive still. Upon checking this with the rta my licence is still active and it looks like the hospital didn't report it. I am a bit concerned as I have lost a lot of confidence and have done the both the online knowledge test and the online hazard perception test and unfortunately have failed both on my first and only attempt. This has increased my anxiety about driving again. Should I get driving lessions? My physical abiliyty is ok with just a slight weakness on left side but I am a bit slower in thinksing sometimes and much more nervous since stroke. Has anyone else have similar experience?