Medical for D4 license for 70yr old
My husband is 70 next year and we are looking to buy a motorhome weighing 3.8. He will need the D4 license. He had a triple bypass and heart valve replacement 3 yrs ago, after investigations for angina. He is not on warfarin and is fit and active. What are other people's experiences of this please.
carole
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Health issues were one reason we restricted ourselves to 3500kg so we have no experience to quote as we avoided the issue.
Perhaps you should speak to a medical practitioner to establish if your husband is likely to pass the medical and study the DVLA website to find out the exact requirements.
You might want to consider if it's worth the hassle of the medical to get a licence just for a van of 300kg more.
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The medical is very straightforward. The biggest problem is finding some place to do it at a sensible fee as it will be an annual cost. But Google is your friend so you should be able to get it done for about £40. You can get the GP to do it but expect to pay £150 MORE.
Although a many page form, almost all the information is the medical person asking questions and the candidate answering them. The measurements are blood pressure, eysight (with and without glasses/lenses) and urine test.
I suggest you get a copy and read through it.
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It's not a one-off either. You have to renew it periodically. That's why I stuck to 3500Kg as well. As I get older I like hassle less and less.
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I believe it's every three years as cyberyacht said.
My father had great difficulty in getting it being Diabetic, I don't think Angina & Bypass are considered quite as problematic, however I would be inclined to stick to 3500Kg myself just to simplify things.
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Or annually, if you have HGV entitlement to maintain so you can drive the real Motor Homes.
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I was in a similar situation as I had a heart attack in 1991 aged 47 and in 1993 had a quadruple bypass. I had the usual non driving period but after that went back to running my own Civil Engineering Contracting Business with no problems.
Initially they took away my HGV (class 1) licence but after the bypass I successfully completed the required time on a treadmill with no ill effects and got my HGV back.
I'm 73 now so have slowed up a bit, and let the HGV lapse but I still wanted to retain my 7.5 tonne entitlement.
I sailed through the medical ok but the DVLA arranged a treadmill test exactly like I had previously had for my LGV (HGV) It's the Bruce protocol stress test and requires 9 minutes of exercise.
I found it quite severe but just managed it.
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A web search will give you a list of companies that have travelling doctors local to you who will undertake the examination for and correctly fill in the forms for DVLA.
Using your local doctor can be a problem if the inexperience leads to the forms being rejected and completed again.
if the driver has grand father rights pre 1997, a 3.5 ton mhome can tow up to 3.5 ton. Subject to train weights of the mhome.
rgds
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Firstly think carefully about purchasing a van over 3500kg because the "over 70" medical requirements are continuous and a change of health circumstances at any time could mean that you have to give up the heavier van. Additionally will you have to re-apply in three years i.e. meet the full medical standard with eye tests and medicals.
Regarding the application process I applied to retain my entitlements this year. Because of certain aspects of my medical history I deemed it sensible to obtain a medical report from my GP and also my ophthalmologist. Curiously the eyesight standard increases when you attain 70 as you have to meet the relevant standards in both eyes whereas up to 70 you can drive without any sight in one eye. My GP suggested that certain aspects of my medical history and medication might trigger an enquiry by DVLA and he was right. Although the total cost of my reports was £170 and although outside agencies could have done the medical stuff at much less cost they would not have been able to report on the follow up, which needed comment on and production of historic records so the GPs involvement was needed.
DVLA are quite often criticised for being slow and their methodology dealing with mail (scan incoming mail and use outside resources for some outgoing) builds in delays of several days at each stage. That said in my case DVLA were efficient and reasonably quick. Conversely my GP practice although completely professional as regards the original examination and form filling completed botched their response to DVLA s medical enquiry for comment on a historic MRI scan of my brain by sending a 2017 CT scan of my jaw and it was only through my own monitoring and intervention that the error was recognised by them and thereafter was completed within a 10 week timescale. So my advice is :-
1. Don't rely on comment here about the likely outcome of your medical. The medical facts and circumstances for each individual are different and only professional assessment matters.
2. For a number of reasons including current and future medical reasons consider carefully is you really need/want a heavier van.
3. Discuss your condition with your GP now to get a heads up on the likely outcome of a full medical.
4. Only proceed if you can be as satisfied as possible that you can meet the standards.
5. If you have any eyesight issues discuss with you opthalmologist who should be able to suggest what needs to be done.
6. Make your application in good time (DVLA will send an application pack early if necessary just write and request it) .
Best of luck with whatever you decide and enjoy motorhoming.
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