People diagnosed with brain tumours, including metastatic breast cancer in the brain, must stop driving as soon as they receive the diagnosis.

Ask your doctor if you are fit to drive and if you need to report your condition to the Drivers Licensing Authority.

You cannot drive again until a ‘fitness to drive’ assessment says you are safe to do so.

Medical standards for driving

The national standards are in Assessing Fitness to Drive. These state that if a driver’s memory, concentration, vision, strength or hearing is affected, they should stop driving until treatment has resolved the problem.

Seizures also make it unsafe to drive until they are controlled.

You are responsible for taking action to decide if you are well enough to drive safely.

A specialist can help you to decide – speak to your treating team, a neurologist, or an occupational therapist.

Legal reasons not to drive

There are important legal reasons not to drive if you are not medically fit.

If you cause an accident when you are not medically fit to be driving, this is a legal offence. Your insurance company may not cover you.

Help with transport

Speak to your hospital social worker if you need help with travel arrangements or read about:

• Taxi concession programs and discounted parking
• Patient Assisted Travel Scheme (PATS) for rural patients

Driving again after treatment

You may be able to return to driving after the metastases have been treated.

Before you drive, you will need an assessment. This may involve vision tests or on-road testing.

For information, visit the Aust Roads website. This has information about your responsibilities as a driver and what may mean you are legally not allowed to drive.