There are laws about whether people may or may not drive as a result of different medical conditions. These are covered by the 1988 Road Traffic Act and later regulations, including the Motor Vehicles (Driving Licence) Regulations of 1996.
Based on these the DVLA (Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency), which issues driving licenses, has given guidance to doctors about those illnesses where people could be a danger to themselves, or to other people, if they carried on driving. These include many types of brain tumour.
Your husband’s doctor will almost certainly have used this guidance in making their decision to tell him not to drive.
Once someone has been told by their doctor that they should not drive it is their responsibility (not their doctor’s) to tell the DVLA, by contacting to the Drivers Medical Unit, DVLA, Longview Road, Morriston, Swansea SA99 1TU (‘phone 01792 761119). The DVLA will then get all the medical details and give their decision on whether or not the person can continue driving, and how long they must give up their license for before the decision can be reconsidered.
If someone has been told by their doctor that they should not be driving then they must not drive until they hear from the DVLA.
If your husband feels that his doctor’s advice is wrong, or unreasonable, then he can ask his doctor for a second opinion. Once again, however, he should not continue driving until he has been given the all clear by the second doctor.
If someone continues to drive against their doctor’s advice, and has not notified the DVLA about their medical condition, then their doctor should try and persuade them to stop. These efforts at persuasion can include telling their next of kin that the person should not be driving so that they can try and stop them as well.
If all this fails, and the person still continues to drive, then the doctor is supposed to tell the DVLA about this so that they can take further action. If the doctor does this they are supposed to write to the driver to let them know that they are informing the DVLA.
Obviously, for many people, not being able to drive is inconvenient and upsetting but it is important that if they have a medical condition that makes driving dangerous they, and the rest of the public, should be protected.