MADBAZ:
One of my neighbours had a few epileptic episodes back in 2004, he stared into space & appeared to daydream, no fit’s or convulsions but his vocational entitlement has been revoked until he can go 10 years seizure free without medication, he’s only got till 2015 to go.
exactly what i been told how ever the dvla say i can drive a car any car i can afford to buy hire borrow so im safe enough to do that at any speed within legal limits yet i cant drive what effectly a big van
It’s all stitched up by statistics.
If you have a seizure you have to wait until there is a less than 20% chance of a repeat before you can drive a car. The stats say this takes 6 months, just long enough to make people take it seriuosly but not long enough to set the Daily Wail and Excess brigade in foaming at the mouth mode.
You have to wait until the stats show less than 2% chance of a repeat before you can drive an LGV or PCV. The same stats say this takes 5 years.
I’ve put these results on a graph and it is the weirdest looking curve you have ever seen. The politicians have got the doctors to come up with the ‘right’ answer and healthy drivers can be pointed in the direction of the dole queue.
The statistics are nonsense and the politicians and doctors are spineless, self-serving, box tickers want a popular decision not a correct one, which would require them to do some actual work to justify.
hi all…i had a kidney removed for cancer in august …all wet apparently well until last fri in halifax…took a funny turn while parked up and ended up in hospital…end result…cancer had spread to my brain…looks like the end of my career…only 55…
scania57:
hi all…i had a kidney removed for cancer in august …all wet apparently well until last fri in halifax…took a funny turn while parked up and ended up in hospital…end result…cancer had spread to my brain…looks like the end of my career…only 55…
Very sorry to read your bad news. 
thanks neil i guess its just something im havin to cope with…fortunately they havent offered me a one way plane ticket to geneva yet haha…but i will miss my nomad lifestyle after 25yrs of trucking…my firms been very good witm me an are paying me full wages until new year which they will review in jan so thats made bills easier till xmas anyway…well heres wishing you all a safe and restful christmas…drive safetly
neil46:
scania57:
hi all…i had a kidney removed for cancer in august …all wet apparently well until last fri in halifax…took a funny turn while parked up and ended up in hospital…end result…cancer had spread to my brain…looks like the end of my career…only 55…
Im sorry to here about your illness, puts my situation in context. I wish you a full and speedy recovering.
Thought i would post a quick update. After nearly 8 months i did get my car license back, which included my C1 category. I reapplied for my full H.G.V entitlement back, in January 11 months after revocation. I got a letter back stating it is too early, its was very vague suggesting i contact my consultant. The consultant didnt really want to know. They still have not returned my license and paper part. I know of some body else who kept on applying, and did get his full entitlement back after a year. It does appear that cases vary, but getting to speak to some one at the d.v.l.a with any authority is near impossible. John
Ayup Wizzy, through ill health i didnt pass my medical…not a seizure, but do have my c1 its hard getting any work on tonka’s , and at my age i dont want multidrop…young fella’s game…so i took early retirement but want to do a bit just to keep the boredom at bay , its hard enough holding a job in this climate without health issues…good luck buddy, regards…shytalk, 
I just finished speaking to the d.v.l.a, i really thought id cracked it. Went through the questions, guy said reapply send your cheque with it, we will sort it out. Oh wait hold please ! Yeah you cant apply yet, goodbye. Theres nothing wrong with me, more than a year has passed with no more symptons at all. I feel like ive been thrown on the scrap heap at 36 year old. I spoke to another driver, who applied in the same circumstances and received his back after 11 months. All i can figure is the rules have been changed since his case. Im not sure if i should just give up and wait or try for some legal advice. If id been a footballer caught doing 120mph im sure expensive legal representation could find a loop hole to get me off. Looks like i chose the wrong profession lol. Good luck to every one else with medical problems on here i hope you have better luck than me.
John
Hi all,
I thought I would update the post and ask If any body has any experience of reapplying after revocation.
I visited my GP on Tuesday and explained it has been 5 years since my license was revoked, so I am now eligible to reapply for my HGV license.
He read the guidance notes from the dvla. Following them, he sent an email to the original neurologist consultant, who I only saw once 5 Years ago, to see if he had any objections to me holding a licence again.
So now I wait for him to reply.
Just wondered if any body else has gone through the process? If they have, was it a quick decision in your favour, or is it a lot more complicated ? Being realistic and after having dealings with the dvla medical board, I’m not expecting things to be easy.
Thanks
John.
They have discretion to issue a licence before the 5 years is up, I think it’s about 8 weeks, but that only means you have the decision before the due date, you can’t really do anything else with it.
They have said mine will be returned on Feb 3rd but they didn’t half make a right pigs ear of getting to that decision so I’ll believe it when I see it.
I had a medical (you know, the one where a doc you’ve never met ticks boxes depending on what you tell them and then helps themself to £50) and I filled in a D2 which you can get from the Post Office.
I’ll need a DCPC but can’t apply for Mod 2 until then and no one will take a booking for Mod4 until I have Mod2 in my pocket so that going to be the thick end of a month.
By the by, have you read the report ‘Driven to Despair’ published by Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman?
You don’t say if you have complained to DVLA and/or DMG but this report is pretty damning and your circumstances may be similar.
Good luck
Hi Astrocan
Thanks for taking the time to reply.
I contacted the dvla and they sent out all the appropriate forms for my gp to fill in, unfortunately he said he wouldn’t waste my money, until the neurologist had stated in writing, that he had no objections to me holding my license again.
My 5 years are up in march hence why I’ve started the form filling now. It took them long enough to reinstate my normal entitlements so I was under no illusion as to how long they could string this out.
I have my DCPC done already, as they allowed me to keep my C1 entitlement. I have been lucky to shift down to a 7.5 tonner for the same company I have always worked for.
I read the article about the dvla, the stories don’t surprise me, in my experience it was like talking to a brick wall.
I gave up in the end and decided to wait it out. Hopefully as mine was an isolated incident I’ll be deemed low risk and can crack on getting back to normal.
I hope your license turns up and you can then look forward to some quality class room time, going through you DCPC 
Good luck for the future
John.
What I find odd is that they suspended some LGV entitlements and not others, some of which were the same such as C1 and C1+E !
Do they think your condition reacts differently to a pre 97 C1 compared to a C1 obtained by passing a test 
Does not make logical sense
I got a pm from one of the guys who are mentioned in the article a few years ago. He had not been given his C1 entitlement back, even though he was roughly the same era passing his car test as me.
Like it has been said many times the dvla are a law unto themselves. I had cause to send my license back twice and it always came back with C1 on it. I’m glad it did as I’ve previously said, it allowed me to keep working for the same company. Albeit on a smaller truck.
I think you lucked in there.
They made a point of removing my C1. I had it through grandfather rights but they still removed it.
If you’ve gone 5years without another seizure you don’t need a doctors opinion. 5 years is the threshold and you have either passed it or you haven’t.
They told me that they can approve the return of entitlement up to 8 weeks before it is due, funny how they never mentioned this when I wanted my car licence back.
Like I said I got a medical but that was only because my last one expired during the revocation.
If you have been getting medicals to maintain your C1 that should suffice.
I have to say I’m a bit startled to think you had a medical during the revocation and still kept your C1, but nothing about DMC surprises me any more.
Well my medical is done and I passed with flying colours, I have a letter from the neurologist stating he has no objection to me regaining my license. So now I send it off and wait. After reading through the thread on the medical board at the dvla, I don’t hold out much hope for a speedy turn around, but you never know.
astrocan, I have not needed a medical over the last five years as I’ve just turned 41 now.
Hope that clears up the mystery as to why no one questioned my C1 entitlement at a medical.
I hope you have made positive progress with you reapplication.
Congrats on your good news.
Going through the same sort of thing-had my licence revoked in 2011 due to having a fit in my sleep. They happen every 4 years or so and DVLA are worried they might cross over into ‘awake seizures’. Had all the tests for epilepsy and nothing showed up so they said it was ‘spontaneous sleep related seizures’ Got a 10 year revocation and had no symptoms since. They even took my 7.5t rights too so i’m now stuck in a sprinter which is a bit demoralising.
Looking to the future: How long was the process for getting your licence back? I vaguely remember you can apply about 2 months before the end date, is that right? And did DVLA pull their fingers out? Or was it business as usual?
Good luck for the future, drive safe.
Hi Kezza
I haven’t heard anything back yet. I am tempted to ring them to check progress but after reading some of the threads on here I feel I could be banging my head against a brick wall. I sympathise with you and know exactly how you feel.
Ill post up the out come, good or bad .
Thanks.
After 5 years and 2 months I have finally got the all clear. Got my license through the post last Friday.
I wasn’t sure it was ever going to happen, with all the stories on here about the dvla medical board.
My experience might give people who are still fighting for theirs, a bit of hope that common sense can prevail.
Thanks for reading and good luck to all the guys who are still fighting.