Road Safety Week is in full swing in the UK. However, research has shown that hundreds of drivers are out on the road despite having their licences revoked because they’ve been deemed not fit to drive.
Of course, this is a serious and incredibly dangerous crime, and it’s known as an ‘LC50 offence’, or ‘driving after a licence has been cancelled or refused on medical grounds’.
Individuals can have their licence cancelled or refused on medical grounds, and motorists have a duty to tell the DVLA about any issues that could affect their driving. Common conditions include visual impairment, epilepsy and severe mental illness.
Unfortunately, not everyone is ready to give up driving just because their licence has been revoked or denied. A recent freedom of information request to the DVLA, by Select Car Leasing, highlighted 1,303 prosecutions for LC50 offences since 2019.
In 2021, 269 individuals were caught in the act, down from a staggering 412 offences the year before.
Additionally, there were some regional hotspots for unfit drivers risking their own lives, as well as those around them. London, Glasgow and Norwich were all prominent features on the blacklist, with Leicester and Poole following closely behind to round off the top five.
In terms of the most populous locations for LC50 offences, Glasgow topped the list with a whopping 5.6 per 100,000 non-fit drivers per capita. In Bristol, the figure was 2.5 and 1.9 in Edinburgh.
The full top ten list for regions with dangerous drivers includes:
- Glasgow – 5.6 per 100,000
- Bristol – 2.5 per 100,000
- Edinburgh – 1.9 per 100,000
- London – 1.5 per 100,000
- Plymouth – 1.1 per 100,000
- Birmingham – 0.9 per 100,000
- Aberdeen – 0.8 per 100,000
- Sheffield – 0.8 per 100,000
- Manchester – 0.6 per 100,000
- Cardiff – 0.2 per 100,000
The freedom of information request also uncovered a further eight prosecutions for ‘driving after making a false declaration about fitness when applying for a licence’ offences.
Besides the risk of prosecution, you can be fined up to £1,000 if you do not tell the DVLA about a medical condition that affects your driving.
Photo credit: Davis Sanchez
