How do you know when someone should stop driving?

Quick summary

There is no age limit. What matters is reaction time, night vision, confidence at junctions and whether there have been near misses. Licences expire at 70 and are renewed every three years, free, by self-declaration. Certain conditions, including dementia, must be reported to the DVLA when they develop rather than at renewal.

The legal position

Notifiable conditions include dementia, Parkinson’s disease, stroke, epilepsy, insulin-treated diabetes, serious heart conditions and significant sight problems. The DVLA publishes a full A to Z of conditions. Derbyshire County Council also runs a useful older drivers page if you are on that side of the patch.

Not reporting a notifiable condition can invalidate insurance and carries a fine, which matters more than the DVLA’s eventual decision.

Telling the DVLA is not the same as losing the licence

This is the fear that stops people declaring. 

After a dementia diagnosis is reported, the DVLA gathers medical information and can renew the licence, usually for a shorter period such as a year with reassessment, ask for a driving assessment at one of the accredited centres, or withdraw the licence. Many people in the early stages carry on driving for a time.

A driving assessment is not a driving test. It is an on-road evaluation looking at judgement, reaction and awareness, and it produces an independent verdict, which can also settle a family argument that has been going round in circles.

What actually predicts unsafe driving

• New damage on the car. Scrapes on bumpers and wing mirrors, kerbed alloys, a missing wheel trim. The most objective evidence there is.
• Near misses, or other drivers sounding their horn more often.
• Hesitating at junctions and roundabouts, or pulling out when the gap is not there.
• Drifting in the lane or straddling the middle line.
• Slow reactions to lights changing or a car braking ahead.
• Getting lost on familiar routes, which is a different and more serious signal.
• Confusing the pedals, even once.
• Avoidance. No longer driving at night, in rain, on motorways or to unfamiliar places. Sensible self-regulation, and also a sign that confidence is going.
• Passengers who have stopped travelling with them. Ask the family. Someone usually knows.

The medical things worth checking first

Some driving problems have a fixable cause, and it is worth ruling those out before deciding to give up the car.

• Eyesight. Free NHS sight tests from 60. Cataracts, glaucoma and macular problems all affect driving, and cataract surgery frequently restores confidence.
• Medication. Sedating medicines and combinations affect reaction time. A medication review is a single appointment.
• Dizziness or blackouts. Blood pressure dropping on standing is common and treatable, and any blackout at the wheel is a hard stop until assessed.
• Hearing, joint pain and neck movement, which affect checking blind spots.
• Sleep apnoea, which is notifiable and very treatable.

How to have the conversation

Giving up driving is rarely about transport. It is about independence, identity and being the person who drives rather than the person who is driven.

• Go out with them first. Opinions formed from the passenger seat carry more weight than opinions formed at the kitchen table.
• Be specific. “You went through the give way at the end of Hurdsfield Road without stopping” lands differently from “you’re not safe any more”.
• Let someone else say it if they will listen to a GP, an optician or a driving assessor more readily than to you. That is common and says nothing about you.
• Offer a middle step. Daytime only, local only, no motorways. Many people self-regulate well with a bit of structure.
• Solve the transport before removing the car, not afterwards.
• Expect more than one conversation.

Our guide on how to raise difficult subjects with a parent applies almost word for word here.

When you cannot wait

If someone is clearly unsafe and will not stop, you can tell the DVLA yourself. It accepts confidential reports from family members and from doctors, and it will make its own enquiries.

Nobody does this lightly and it damages trust. Set against the alternative, which is a collision involving a child on a village lane, it is sometimes the right call. Speak to their GP first, since a doctor raising it is usually less damaging to the relationship.

What replaces the car

• The older person’s bus pass, free off-peak travel in England. Useful in Macclesfield, Wilmslow and Congleton, and much less so in Wincle, Meerbrook or Chelford, where services are limited.
• Community transport and dial-a-ride schemes, listed in Cheshire East Council’s Live Well directory and the equivalents in Derbyshire and Staffordshire.
• Volunteer driver schemes, often run through Age UK or local churches, usually for appointments.
• Online shopping deliveries, which remove one of the main reasons for driving.
• Paid support with getting out. Shopping, appointments, the garden centre, seeing friends.

The risk after giving up the car is doing less, seeing fewer people and getting weaker, which raises the risk of falls. Filling the diary matters as much as arranging lifts, which our piece on the signs someone is struggling touches on.

Frequently asked questions

Is there an age when you must stop driving?

No. Licences expire at 70 and are renewed every three years by self-declaration, free of charge.

Do you have to tell the DVLA about dementia?

Yes, and as soon as it is diagnosed rather than at renewal. The car insurer must be told too. It does not automatically mean the licence is withdrawn.

Is there a compulsory eye test at 70?

Not currently. Drivers self-declare that they meet the standard. A consultation on mandatory eyesight testing for older drivers was launched in 2026, so this may change.

Can I report my dad to the DVLA?

Yes, confidentially. Speak to his GP first if you can, as that route usually does less damage to the relationship.

What is a driving assessment?

An independent on-road evaluation at an accredited centre, looking at judgement and reaction rather than testing you as a learner. It can recommend adaptations or restrictions rather than stopping altogether.

What happens to the Blue Badge?

A Blue Badge belongs to the person, not the car, and can still be used as a passenger. Apply through the county or unitary council.

About Visiting Angels Cheshire East

Visiting Angels Cheshire East provides care at home across Macclesfield, Wilmslow, Knutsford, Congleton, Alsager and the surrounding villages of East Cheshire, along with Buxton, Whaley Bridge and the Staffordshire Moorlands towns. You can see all the areas we cover.

• Getting out, not just getting by. Shopping, appointments, visiting friends, a walk, the garden centre.
• No visit is ever shorter than an hour, which is what makes an outing possible.
• You choose your caregiver, and meet them before care starts.
• You see the same faces. Our carer turnover is 12 per cent, against a sector figure of 23.7 per cent (Skills for Care, 2025).
• We cover the villages, where losing the car makes the biggest difference.

Iain wrote this about the help his mother receives:

“Visiting Angels have been a great help to my mother with cleaning, shopping, taking her for walks and by simply keeping her company.”

Iain Brook, Google review

Not sure what you need yet? Start with a free assessment

Our free home care assessment is a visit at a time that suits you, with no obligation afterwards. In it we will:

• Work out what has been lost with the car, which is usually the shopping, the appointments and the seeing people.
• Talk through a realistic package, and what it would cost.
• Look at the money with you, and point you towards the funding, benefits and grants you may be entitled to.
• Point you at free community transport first, because for some people that covers it.

If someone has just given up driving and the days have gone quiet, call us on 01625 720157. You can also send an enquiry, and you can see what our services cover.

Authored by Dr Niall Jawad, Managing Director, Visiting Angels Cheshire East.

Published 27 September 2026. Last updated 27 September 2026.

This article is general information, not medical or legal advice, and no substitute for advice from a GP, optician or the DVLA. Driving rules change; check GOV.UK for the current position, including the list of notifiable conditions. Failing to report a notifiable condition is a legal matter and can invalidate insurance. If someone is at immediate risk of causing harm, speak to their GP or contact the DVLA. To the fullest extent permitted by law, GB Care at Home Ltd accepts no liability for any loss arising from reliance on this article.