Assessing Fitness to Drive
Each year in Australia more than 1,300 Australians are killed on our roads and over 32,000 are seriously injured. The total economic cost exceeds $18 billion annually and the social costs are also considerable.
Whilst many factors contribute to safety on the road, driver health is an important consideration and drivers must meet certain medical standards to ensure that their health status does not increase the risk of a crash in which they or other road users may be killed or injured.
In March 2012, new medical standards come into effect for drivers of private and commercial vehicles. The standards are contained in the document Assessing Fitness to Drive 2012, which replaces the previous standards (Assessing Fitness to Drive 2003).
In March 2013 the Transport and Infrastructure Senior Officials' Committee (TISOC) approved changes to Assessing Fitness to Drive, March 2012. The changes are set out here. At the same time, the contact details were updated in Appendix 8 and 9. The PDF version of Assessing Fitness to Drive has been updated with the amendments. From 21 March 2013 hardcopy orders will have the updated pages inserted. The five updated pages can be downloaded here.
This website provides information to health professionals to assist them in assessing patients’ ability to drive as well as advising them of their legal responsibilities. It also provides information to drivers of both private and commercial vehicles, including changes to the standards which may affect them.
Download a PDF of Assessing Fitness to Drive 2012 (as amended up to 16 March 2013)
Order a hardcopy of Assessing Fitness to Drive 2012
Download patient information sheet (download PDF)
Download Assessing Fitness to Drive information kit (download PDF)