LGV licence drugs loophole under scrutiny

The Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is considering revising current LGV medical checks, after a fatal accident inquiry in Scotland revealed that a man who had been a heroin addict for 20 years held an LGV licence and was working as a truck driver.

Paramedics who treated truck driver John Paul Pratt after he drove into the back of a stationary motorway warning vehicle on the M80 near Denny told the inquiry that he had admitted having had taken a bag of heroin the night before the crash.

Medical staff found two bags of heroin, a bag of diazepam and drug-taking paraphernalia inside the crushed cab of Pratt’s truck following the crash on 29 May 2012, and it emerged that he had been a heroin addict for the last 20 years.

Pratt died after being rushed to Forth Valley Royal Hospital for treatment. Two other people hurt in the crash also required hospital treatment, but were later released.

Sheriff Craig Caldwell criticised a loophole in the system that had allowed Pratt to obtain an LGV licence.

Pratt’s doctor was aware that he had been addicted to heroin since 1993. However, when he applied to the DVLA for an LGV licence, Pratt falsely declared that he did not have any drug or alcohol dependencies and was not examined by his own doctor.

The Crown and DVLA claimed at the inquiry that his GP, Dr James Keddie, should have advised the authorities of Mr Pratt’s addiction.

Sheriff Caldwell pointed out that thanks to the current self-certification system, Dr Keddie had never been consulted and was not aware that Pratt had applied for or been granted a licence.

He called on the DVLA to change procedures so applicants have to be signed off by their own doctor before being granted a licence.

Sheriff Caldwell said he was “significantly unimpressed” by the “depressing degree of bureaucratic obstructionism” in the current system that meant the loophole could only be closed by changing both the law and the terms of GPs’ contracts.