S.88

[Calm]

I have spoke to my GP asking them for a letter to state that I am fit to drive under s.88.
They have said they don't see what else I can do to prove that I am no longer drinking alcohol. As I have been going for regular lft. (Have been sober for over 2 years) However they said that it would need to be a dvla doctor who would write a letter.
My question is would I still be able to drive under s.88 without a letter confirming I am fit to drive?
My yearly licence runs out the end of this month, I sent my renewal application months ago.
Thanks

 

[BigTom]

I have spoke to my GP asking them for a letter to state that I am fit to drive under s.88.
They have said they don't see what else I can do to prove that I am no longer drinking alcohol. As I have been going for regular lft. (Have been sober for over 2 years) However they said that it would need to be a dvla doctor who would write a letter.
My question is would I still be able to drive under s.88 without a letter confirming I am fit to drive?
My yearly licence runs out the end of this month, I sent my renewal application months ago.
Thanks

You don't need a physical letter but you do need your GP to confirm that they have no issues regarding you driving. This will need to be entered into your notes should you need to prove it at a later date.

I went the opposite route, I asked the GP if they could see any reason for them based on their medical opinion to suggest I couldn't drive. They said no and I got them to record this. It's all semantics!

 

[C J 1980]

Calm

What you will find with this scenario is that GP's sit on the fence with their decision making and generally will not put pen to paper to declare John/Jane Doe is suitable to drive.

The whole point of the Section 88 legislation is waiting for the DVLA to contact your GP, but most GP's will simply state they are not prepared to say 'yes' or 'no' without correspondence from the DVLA. Its almost like going around in circles banging your head repeatedly with a wooden spoon.

With myself - I approached my GP surgery - I asked the question 'Is there any reason I cannot drive at this moment in time?' - I was told by the receptionist the GP would not give a definitive answer either way, so I asked them to document my verbal request in my medical notes that I asked the question on the specific date last December.

I then cleverly used the Ask My GP online service where I got one of the surgery GP's to say they did not think I was unfit to refrain from driving but the decision to stay off the road or not was down to me at the end of the day!

Again, the answer was open ended in a way the GP would not be criticised if I suddenly got drunk and killed someone in my car (which is not likely to happen).

All I will say with S.88 is make sure you have all your ducks in order first, in that it is legislation a lot of people tend to use without knowing the why's & wherefore's.

CJ

 

[MaryM123]

You don't need a physical letter but you do need your GP to confirm that they have no issues regarding you driving. This will need to be entered into your notes should you need to prove it at a later date.

I went the opposite route, I asked the GP if they could see any reason for them based on their medical opinion to suggest I couldn't drive. They said no and I got them to record this. It's all semantics!

That’s helpful, I’ll need this from October. How soon did you approach them before your 1 year licence expiring?

 

[Calm]

Thank you for your replies, I hope the conversation I had is documented with my GP. At the end of the day it is not like I have not done everything that I can do. It's the Dvla's backlog that is causing all the unnecessary stress .