Learning to Drive With A Medical Condition

Many teens are learning to drive with a medical condition, and evidence-based guidelines are needed to keep them safe. Researchers at the Center for Injury Research and Prevention at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine are collaborating with medical specialty areas across CHOP and driver rehabilitation specialists to learn how various medical conditions, including epilepsy, congenital heart disease, certain types of cancer, hearing impairments and mood disorders may affect the learning to drive process, licensing, and crash risk.

The effects of a medical condition on daily living may impact a teen's driving abilities in different ways. For example:

  • may need more time to process or prioritize information to complete a driving task
  • may react less quickly to sudden changes on the road
  • may have difficulty moving the body to correctly operate a motor vehicle
  • may be impulsive or have a short attention span, which may increase crash risk

Here are evidence-based guidelines on learning to drive with a medical condition: 

Even though certain medical conditions can affect driving performance, there are ways to help your teen develop safe driving skills:

  • Talk to your child's doctor about wanting to drive and whether it's a safe choice
  • Follow medical treatment guidelines
  • Contact a local Certified Driver Rehabilitation Specialist who has training in working with individuals to address the following factors as they relate specifically to driving: seizure activity, vision issues, memory and attention issues, and side effects from medications
  • Review safe driving resources on this website developed by experts at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

More Helpful Resources

Other Options to Stay Mobile

For those teens and young adults with a medical condition who are not ready or unable to drive, there are other ways to stay mobile when transitioning to adulthood:

  • Practice how to take public transit
  • Use taxis or ridesharing services
  • Carpool with classmates or co-workers who drive

Learn about driving with neurodevelopmental differences