Assessing fitness to drive
Recommending changes to a patient's driver licence
Our role is to make decisions about who can drive on Queensland roads, balancing a person's need to drive and road safety.
As Queensland's driver licensing authority, we make the final decision about your patient’s driver licence and their continued driving. We base our decision on your assessment of their medical condition.
You may recommend one of the following. Your patient:
- meets the medical criteria for an unconditional licence
- meets the medical criteria for a conditional licence
- does not meet the medical criteria to hold a driver licence.
Recommending an unconditional licence
If the person meets the criteria for an unconditional licence, this means they’ll have:
- no M (medical condition) recorded on their driver licence
- no licence conditions or restrictions.
Examples of why you may recommend an unconditional licence include when the person:
- does not have a permanent or long-term medical condition
- has a permanent or long-term medical condition and the Assessing Fitness To Drive standards indicate the person is fit to hold an unconditional licence
- has a medical condition that has improved, and the person no longer needs a conditional licence and requires no further medical review
- has a non-progressive medical condition which does not require a further medical review and they do not need to drive a modified vehicle or a vehicle that has an automatic transmission
- is 75 years or older and has no permanent or long-term medical condition.
If the patient is 75 years or older, they must carry a current Medical Certificate for Motor Vehicle Drivers whenever they drive even though they may have an unconditional licence.
Recommending a conditional licence
A conditional licence allows the driver to maintain a driver licence with conditions on holding that licence to ensure public safety.
You can recommend that we issue a conditional licence for patients who have a condition listed in the Assessing Fitness To Drive standards that is likely to make their driving less safe, but whose medical treatments, vehicle or driving modifications enables them to drive safely.
If the patient meets the medical criteria for a conditional licence, this means they:
- will have an 'M' condition recorded on their licence
- must always carry while driving a copy of their Medical certificate for Driver
- will need you to periodically review their medical condition. At the review period, you’ll need to do a medical assessment to determine their continued fitness to drive.
Restrictions must be enforceable
You must only recommend licence conditions and restrictions on the person's medical certificate that the police can enforce.
Examples of licence conditions that the police can enforce are:
- must not drive on roads where the speed limit is more than 60km/h.
- must not drive on highways or freeways.
- must not drive at night.
- must only drive during daylight hours.
- may only drive within a 10km radius of their home.
Examples of licence conditions that the police can’t enforce are:
- must take medication
- must only drive in their local area
- must not drive when feeling unwell.
Recommending not fit to drive
Permanently not fit to drive
If you have assessed your patient as permanently not fit to drive, this means they must surrender their driver licence.
If your patient is over 75, chat with them about support services to help them adapt to life without driving.
Not fit to drive for a specified time
You can also specify a time range that your patient is not medically fit to drive on the Medical Certificate for Drivers form.
What happens with your medical assessment
Your patient must let us know the outcome of your assessment and give us a copy of your medical certificate for drivers form.
Read about what to do if you don't think they will tell us.
In this guide:
- Choose either the private or commercial standard
- How to assess a patient’s medical condition for fitness to drive
- Recommending changes to a patient's driver licence
- Decide a review period and expiry date for the medical certificate
- Complete the medical certificate form to give to your patient