
Dr Charlesworth-Jones, qualified as both a Doctor and Barrister is CEO of D4Drivers, the largest provider in the UK of driver medical assessments. D4Drivers are partnering with Loughborough University’s School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, ranked No 1 globally for Sport, to undertake the World’s largest study into driver health. Emerging results indicate that collision risk and productivity are all linked to driver health – Grant is campaigning to improve both road safety and driver health in one move.
Whilst the vehicle below may well have a 27-point check daily, a driver qualifying at age 18 will not have another medical assessment for 27 years – at the age of 45!

Since the DVSA published this guidance in 2019, updating it in 2023 little to nothing has changed to include the actual fitness (both physical and mental) of the driver.
Although the DVLA requires regular medical assessments, albeit at five-yearly intervals, from the age of 45 this does not mean that operators are discharging their legal duty under the Health and Safety at Work legislation. There is an onus on the driver not to take charge of a vehicle if they are not fit or competent to do so, although many drivers still get behind the wheel even when they are unwell because of financial and work pressures. The operator though has legal responsibility ultimately for every vehicle movement to be risk assessed and safe – this includes not just the vehicle but the driver too.
Realistically, the risk for the vehicle, the cargo, other road users, and the wider public is most likely to be caused by the driver. Therefore, risk assessment is essential.

Loughborough University’s Professor Clemes, lead researcher on the Structured Health Intervention Trucks (SHIFT) programme further comments “Research shows that unhealthy drivers, and/or drivers with excess weight, are more likely to have a collision than healthy drivers. Interventions to improve driver health will naturally lead to reduced road risk and operators will benefit from not only fewer accidents, but less sickness absence, and increases in productivity”.
What Does a Driver Check Look Like? 10 Things You Need to Know
- Eyesight – Our eyes change over time and needing correction, such as wearing glasses, is very common over the age of 45 years. A proper eye test every two years is best practice.
- Blood pressure – This is one of the most common reasons why drivers fail their medical. It should be checked annually.
- Sleep apnoea – A leading cause of daytime sleepiness and lack of concentration in drivers. Risk should be assessed annually; consider formal assessment if the driver is showing any signs of daytime sleepiness or if involved in a near-miss/incident
- Diabetes – Has this ever been checked? There are over a million people with undiagnosed Diabetes in the UK and it is linked to many other health problems which can compromise safe driving;
- Heart disease – Has this ever been checked? Heart attacks and strokes at the wheel can cause potentially fatal incidents;
- Obesity – This links into the previous four headings (yes, all of them!). Research identifies that as obesity increases, safety decreases;
- Mental Health – Anxiety and depression are both prevalent and can affect driver performance;
- Drugs and Alcohol – Based on national figures of use, excess and abuse, drivers are just as susceptible to these problems;
- Medication – GPs are not necessarily aware that they are prescribing to drivers and with many medications having side effects on their own or in combination with other medications, there is a real risk of impaired performance;
- Ongoing Medical Investigations – Just because a driver has not received a formal diagnosis does not mean that, until such a point, they are perfectly safe and unimpaired. Long waiting lists can mean that concerns are raised long before test appointments come through.
The approach of undertaking a daily 27-point vehicle check whilst not bothering to risk assess the actual driver is completely incongruent with both common sense and the safe operation of a fleet. Drivers involved in incidents who have not been risk assessed, adequately or at all, expose operators to liability under health and safety law which can lead to seven figure fines.