[Ability to drive with cerebrovascular diseases : Position paper of the German societies DGNB, DGN, DGNC, DGNR, DSG and GNP]

Abstract

The regulations for ability to drive with cerebrovascular diseases in the German Driving License Regulations (Fahrerlaubnisverordnung, FeV) and German Guidelines for the Evaluation of Driving Ability of the Federal Highway Research Institute (BASt) are not up to date with the current medical knowledge and are not consistent with comparable regulations regarding cardiovascular diseases. This is particularly true for the assessment of future risks for a sudden loss of control during driving. The present position paper of six medical and neuropsychological societies in Germany presents the current conditions for the assessment of driving ability of patients a cerebrovascular diesease and recommends an estimation of the ability to drive founded on the current state of scientific knowledge. It addresses the following: 1. Physical and mental functional limitations and the possibilities for compensation, which if necessary enable a fitness to drive under conditions or within limits, including the importance of behavioral or personality changes and cognitive deficiencies that interfere with safety. 2. The potential danger due to a sudden loss of control as a result of a transient ischemic attack (TIA) new stroke event, or another cardiovascular event while driving. A summary in the form of a table provides physicians and expert assessors with assistance for the most important cerebrovascular diseases.

Keywords: Brain infarction; Intrarerebral haemorrhage; Medico-legal information; Stroke; Subarachnoid bleeding; Transient ischemic attack.