\n According to the Government website, malignant hypertension,\u00a0a sudden rise in your blood pressure also known as accelerated hypertension, could land drivers with a \u00a31,000 fine and prosecution if not reported to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), according to the gov.uk website.\n<\/p>\n
\n However, car and motorbike drivers have been reassured that they do not need to tell the DVLA if they have ‘generic’ high blood pressure.\n<\/p>\n
\n You must stop driving if a doctor says you have malignant hypertension (a sudden rise in your blood pressure, also known as accelerated hypertension)\u00a0and can only resume once a doctor confirms their condition is under control.\n<\/p>\n
\n The rules differ slightly for bus, coach, or lorry licence holders. They must inform the DVLA if they have high blood pressure, that is\u00a0consistently above 180\/100mmHg.\n<\/p>\n
\n Similarly, if a doctor diagnoses these drivers with malignant hypertension, the DVLA must be informed.\n<\/p>\n
\n Individuals can resume driving once a doctor verifies their condition is well-managed.\n<\/p>\n
\n There are different forms you must fill in on the DVLA website depending on the type of high blood pressure you have.\n<\/p>\n
\n High blood pressure tends to be symptomless, making it hard to detect without regular monitoring.\n<\/p>\n
\n The NHS reports this condition is “common” and more prevalent among older adults.\n<\/p>\n
\n Risk factors include advanced age, family history of hypertension, certain ethnic backgrounds, an unhealthy, high-salt diet, being overweight, smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, and chronic stress.\n<\/p>\n
\n According to the latest NHS health survey, in 2024, 30 per cent of adults had been diagnosed with hypertension which is approximately one in three individuals.\n<\/p>\n
\n Men are statistically more prone to hypertension, with a prevalence of 32 per cent compared to 27 per cent in women.\n<\/p>\n
\n Untreated hypertension increased with age, with prevalence highest among those aged 75 and over (18 per cent).\n<\/p>\n
\n For those with low blood pressure, there is no need to report to the DVLA unless the condition presents symptoms such as dizziness or fainting, which could impact driving ability.\n<\/p>\n
\n A government spokesperson said: “You can be fined up to \u00a31,000 if you do not tell DVLA about a medical condition that affects your driving. You may be prosecuted if you\u2019re involved in an accident as a result.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Further details on when and how to report health conditions to the DVLA can be found at gov.uk\/health-conditions-and-driving.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"According to the Government website, malignant hypertension,\u00a0a sudden rise in your blood pressure also known as accelerated hypertension,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":491370,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[59,102,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-491369","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-gb","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=491369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491369\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/491370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=491369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=491369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=491369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}