British Autistics must disclose to driving agency

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Its hardly discrimination. If you have a condition the affects your driving ability (like night-blindness for instance) then you may have restrictions placed on your license. Just the same as a deaf person requiring more mirrors, or an amputee needing hand controls.

People get bent out of shape so easily now...perhaps we need to stop looking for imagined slights, so that we can better deal with the real problems of life?

Interesting. The website seems to have been changed back to the original wording since this morning.

I took a screenshot of the relevant page this morning and under the heading the first line clearly states "You must tell DVLA if you have an autistic spectrum disorder (ASD)".

Looking at it now it appears to have been changed to "You must tell DVLA if your autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) affects your ability to drive safely", which is what it used to say.

Hopefully the DVLA have just made a mistake and have now corrected it but they have probably caused a lot of anxiety in the process. Their attitude when I contacted them this morning certainly pissed me off a lot.

Their own website says IF IT WILL AFFECT YOUR DRIVING...its really the same with any visual, or physical disability. If your autism doesn't affect your driving, you don't need to disclose it. It's the same with employment, you aren't obligated to disclose UNLESS you are seeking accommodation.

There is a rather pathetic apology on twitter from the DVLA followed by a number of rightly very angry responses from people who have already submitted the forms authorising DVLA to access their medical history.

See the other thread in General Autism Discussion. This would appear to be a rather serious cock-up on the part of the DVLA.

If it affects your driving, you shouldn't be driving, period. Same goes for people with other disabilities as well if it affects their driving. Like you can't drive if you are blind or have seizures. You probably shouldn't drive if you have a hard time with distance. You maybe shouldn't drive at night if you have a hard time seeing at night. So why would this need to be disclosed if they are giving you a license?

@DVLAgovuk
"make it clear that a driver who has an autism spectrum disorder only need tell us if their condition could affect their driving.” @Autism @ADHDFoundation @JoPlattMP @npaa_uk @jessphillips
@DVLAgovuk
Statement from DVLA, “In our attempt to clarify the advice for drivers with autism spectrum disorders we’ve clearly muddied the waters and we’re very sorry for that. We have amended the advice on http://GOV.UK for both drivers and medical professionals which

They have now backed down and changed the website to say that you only have to declare if you condition affects your driving.

http://thirdforcenews.org.uk/tfn-news/u-turn-over-autism-driving-declaration-plans

Still worth signing this petition

Disappointed that this thread has been moved to general discussion. It should have stayed in News

To be honest, I think my autism impairs my driving to a slight extent - it's super difficult to focus on so many different things at once (pedals, wheel, speed, gear, other road users, judging trajectories, etc.) as well as being difficult to make snap judgements about the intentions of other drivers at junctions and so forth.

Im 23, got my license at 18 and I have never told the DVLA about my aspergers and its never caused an issue. I can understand having to let them know if you have sensory issues that affect your driving in a negative way that may make you more liable to have an accident but otherwise I don't think it's 100% essential. Before ASD became a commonly diagnosed condition, thousands of undiagnosed autistic drivers were and still are on the road in the UK

They changed it yesterday due to outrage and overwhelm of resources.
You no longer have to.

Perhaps your condition makes it so that you can drive well enough to pass a test in some circumstances, but not at others. Or perhaps your condition has only become apparent since you passed your test, in which case they may decide to take away your license - this can be the case with some forms of epilepsy for example.

I don't drive because of light sensitivity so sometimes autism can affect your ability to drive.

Reason I don't is, sometimes especially at night but sometimes in the day, when I'm in the front seat of the car I have to shut my eyes because it's too bright.

Fine for the passenger but obviously not for the driver.

If it's a case of 'if it affects your ability to drive you must disclose' I have no problem with it. I won't even try for a driving license because of this.

I just can't believe the stir it caused...the laws didn't miraculously change and then change back in a day...it was just a poorly worded phrase on a website...that was corrected.

Yes, they could have been more careful asking for medical information, but people were still free to choe whether or not it was needed information.

No people were not free to choose. Whilst the "if it affects your ability to drive" bit may have been there when you looked at the website, it wasn't there early yesterday morning. I have a screenshot to prove it.

After the wording was first changed, sometime last year I believe, the wording on the website required ALL autistic people to declare their diagnosis to the DVLA regardless of whether their condition affected their driving or not, which had not been the case previously.

The DVLA have the power to revoke people's driving licenses. A number of people who made inquiries about the change of wording were threatened with just that if they did not supply the required information within fourteen days.

Failure to supply the information would have been a serious offence in itself and would almost certainly have invalidated people's insurance as well. Both of my vehicle insurers require people to tell them about any medical conditions which are reportable to the DVLA. I had not told them about my diagnosis as the information on the DVLA website at the time included the "if it affects your ability to drive" bit. Sometime after that the wording on the website was changed without the DVLA making anyone aware of the changes.

When some people spotted the changes and queried them the DVLA were adamant that the new wording was correct. This was when they started threatening to revoke people's licenses. The law may not have changed as you say but what the DVLA were saying was that it had in fact always been a requirement for all autistic people to disclose and they had changed the wording to reflect that.

After the recent storm of protest they changed the wording back again sometime yesterday and have admitted that they made a mistake. However, even as late as yesterday morning when I contacted them by phone they were still adamant that all autistic people must declare their diagnosis regardless of whether or not it affected their ability to drive.

As I said above the DVLA do have the power to revoke people's driving licenses. As such the changes have caused a lot of stress and anxiety for many autistic people. Many people have filled in forms giving the DVLA the right to access information about their medical history when there was in fact no need for them to do so. As yet the DVLA seem to have been silent about what they are going to do in those circumstances. This in itself will be very stressful for a lot of people because dealing with, and challenging, organisations such as the DVLA can be very hard work.

The "stir it caused" is entirely justifiable.

People are always free to chose...they are also free to deal with the consequence of that. My point was, regulations never changed, only the website....Screenshots don't really matter, as no one is arguing what it said.