Driven to Despair - Report on DVLA medical section

Taking your mates case at face value, it looks like they might think he has increased his chances of a seizure because of his fall, either that or he blacked out and fell which amounts to pretty much the same thing.
From my experience he would normally get his Group 1 licence (car) back after 6 months, with his Group 2 (LGV) in 5 years.
Two things come to my mind:

  1. This decision is based on a statistical analysis of similar incidents but any statistician will tell you that this does not prove conclusively one way or the other that your mate is gong to have another seizure and is insufficient evidence, on its own, to make a diagnosis about an individual case. If there is any evidence or serious medical opinion that he will be OK then DVLA /DMG need to come up with more than this to support their case.

  2. If he is getting his Group 1 back in less than 6 months then they obviously think that he has a lower risk profile and this should be applied to his Group 2 licence.

If your mate wants to challenge them on Point 1 he will need to make an official complaint which he will then have to escalate to the Executive Officer then the Independent Adjudicator then the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. All this is time consuming but free and I can only recommend that he stick to his guns and see it through to the end. Keep going, read Driven to Despair and KEEP EVERYTHING THEY EVER SEND YOU, have a box or a file and put everything in there, if they email you save it, archive it, back it up but DON’T LOOSE IT.

I don’t know if it will be of any use to your mate but he might at some point want to challenge DVLA/DMG in court and there is a 6 month time limit on this. Contact the County Court and get them to send you the forms and make the complaint. Once again it is free and you don’t have to persue it straight away but it will be there in your back pocket if you need it. If he wants to take legal advice then he will have to find someone sympathetic to his cause, most law firms only want the easy stuff and will not be there for him when he needs them. Try David Barton, Bindmans or Leigh Day.

Good luck to your mate, this is a pretty crap way to start a career.