Diabetes and Scooter?

BlackEdelweiss

I dident know whether to start a new thread for this question or not so it can be moved if necessary as it is not directly linked to the OP's question.

I have just been diagnosed on Wednesday with type 1 diabetes and was just wondering, among many other things, am I still able/allowed to ride a motor bike/scooter?

I am a 35 year old male if that makes any difference.

Dayo93

BlackEdelweiss wrote: »

I dident know whether to start a new thread for this question or not so it can be moved if necessary as it is not directly linked to the OP's question.

I have just been diagnosed on Wednesday with type 1 diabetes and was just wondering, among many other things, am I still able/allowed to ride a motor bike/scooter?

I am a 35 year old male if that makes any difference.

There is nothing to say you can not continue riding your scooter, You will need to inform your insurance that you are diabetic and insulin dependant, You will also need a medical cert from your doctor saying you are OK to drive when you need to renew your licence.
Just make sure you test your blood sugars before getting out on the bike .

Carsinian Thau

Dayo93 wrote: »

Just make sure you test your blood sugars before getting out on the bike .

This is incredibly important. And do it at regular intervals if doing a long journey. Better safe than sorry and all that..

FluffyCat

My dad is a diabeteic a good few years now and has never been told he couldnt drive, only to keep of the sweet things but that doesnt stop him!!
Ask your doctor but unless you have really unstable diabetics I cant see a problem

Alanstrainor

Hasn't stopped me from driving! Keep some lucozade or equivalent if you have room in the bike.

robinph

You just have to tell the insurance and, in my case, the DVLA. cannot remember what the Irish licencing people need to know, but I think they don't actually care. Your insurance premiums should not be affected.

Carsinian Thau

robinph wrote: »

cannot remember what the Irish licencing people need to know, but I think they don't actually care.

They need to know that you are medically fit to drive. I think any doctor can certify you but I'm not sure.

I use my GP. I think they can certify us up to ten years and then another medical would have to be performed. So basically, just get your doctor to fill out the form saying that you're ok to drive every time you apply for a replacement licence and you're grand.

robinph

I seem to remember that they barely gave the letter from the GP a second glance when I got my Irish license many many moons ago. As for the GP having any knowledge about my diabetes treatment or control when that is all dealt with at the hospital.

With the UK license I have to get it renewed every three years and authorise them to check the hospital records themselves. They also remove a couple of the vehicle categories from your license straight away, think it was for vehicles with 9 or more people in the 7.5 ton truck ones.

It sounds worse, but I'm much more comfortable having that system in place as a slightly better check of my suitability to drive than the Irish system, also they don't charge you for the renewals every three years either and you get a much more sensible credit card sized photo license rather than a tatty bit of paper.

lucernarian

You're not allowed to have a category C license or higher except in exceptional circumstances in Ireland either. Also, I didn't have to pay for a renewal in August. I asked them in the local tax office about this. They got back to me and said that if my licence was nominally for 3 years but I needed to renew the medical report every year, that I wouldn't have to pay for those yearly renewals until the normal expiry time of the license is actually reached.

And legally speaking, it seems to be appropriate to assume a doctor's letter is an imprimatur of someone's fitness to drive. The councils are probably less than interested in going beyond their legal obligations in seeing if someone can drive. Also, people cannot drive legally without insurance, and the insurance company tends to be more stringent with medical checks. So I guess a safety net does exist in the Irish system.

BC

You have to state on the driving licence form that you are diabetic. They then require your doctor to fill out a form regarding your condition. The doctor can sign on the form whether he thinks you'll be fine for 3 years, 5 years or 10 years (can't remember the exact wording on the form but its something to that effect). My doctor always puts 3 years on it so I have to get my drvers licence renewed every 3 years.

I told my insurance company and they said they didn't care that I don't actually have to tell them. That varies between companies though, over the years FBD and Quinn both said they didn't care whereas Hibernian wanted a doctors letter. In all cases though there was no extra charge on my insurance.