DVLA notifiable condition change.

I would not encourage anyone to beak the law. I have held a driving licence for 45 years without so much as a parking  ticket.  So how does my autism affect my driving?

I am apt to distraction, I absolutely hate driving in traffic,  I drive over cautiously at times. And I easily get driver fatigue.  All of these I can allow for by times of day, routes and breaks but law enforcers do not think everyone is responsible so is judged on the lowest common denominator.

Unless one has an accident and then declares.the autism one might think no one would find out. But information these days is stored on computers and computers talk to each other.  If you have applied for a Pip for example your details.are.recorded and perhaps this could then be available to dvla..   Add to that the possibility of insurance not being valid and not disclosing could.prove a costly mistake. 

Pleading ignorance of the law offers no defence.

This does, however, emphasise the importance of getting the information out there.  And also of the possible role of timing in all of this - after all, I could have an accident before my form gets to the DVLA.  In which case, where would I stand? 

I think we need strong, specific guidance on this.  Plus a news bulletin and NAS update doing the rounds, not just hidden away on a website. 

In the unlikely event of you having an accident before the form got to them mitigating factors would be taken into account.  Time has to be allowed for such things, plus they would get your form well before any notice of intended prosecution was sent.

We are perhaps worrying a little too much about this.  I think it would be extremely unlikely your licence would be taken away for autism unless the autism affected you in a way that made your driving dangerous - in which case you would have to ask yourself should you really be driving anyway?  Things like major liability to distraction, not being able to obey rules in a major way (such as not understanding the importance of speed limits, not understanding road signs) or disregard of other road users would lead to removal of a licence, but your GP would be liable to inform the DVLA if he considered your condition would mean you were a dangerous driver.  And don't forget that you were autistic when you passed your test and this has not changed at all.

The fine for not informing is meant to deter anyone from not informing the DVLA if they suffer from one of the conditions.  And in my opinion it is not worth the risk in any way whatever the chances of detection.

In the unlikely event of you having an accident before the form got to them mitigating factors would be taken into account.  Time has to be allowed for such things, plus they would get your form well before any notice of intended prosecution was sent.

We are perhaps worrying a little too much about this.  I think it would be extremely unlikely your licence would be taken away for autism unless the autism affected you in a way that made your driving dangerous - in which case you would have to ask yourself should you really be driving anyway?  Things like major liability to distraction, not being able to obey rules in a major way (such as not understanding the importance of speed limits, not understanding road signs) or disregard of other road users would lead to removal of a licence, but your GP would be liable to inform the DVLA if he considered your condition would mean you were a dangerous driver.  And don't forget that you were autistic when you passed your test and this has not changed at all.

The fine for not informing is meant to deter anyone from not informing the DVLA if they suffer from one of the conditions.  And in my opinion it is not worth the risk in any way whatever the chances of detection.