Fitness to drive in a below knee plaster? An evidence based response.

There is no published work addressing the safety of driving with a below knee cast. We assessed the effect of below knee casts on driving ability and therefore safety. The study gives doctors the evidence base on which to appropriately advise patients regarding driving safety in below knee plaster casts. With the help of the regional Police Force Training and Recruitment Centre, two subjects were assessed in a variety of below knee casts in both manual and automatic vehicles. One of the subjects was a highly trained police driver the other one of the medical authors. All assessments were carried out by a trained police advanced driver. With the exception of a left sided below knee cast in a automatic transmission vehicle all types of below knee casts were deemed a significant impairment and therefore unsafe to drive in. The DVLA has no guidelines regarding driving with a plaster cast. The decision of whether or not a patient can drive safely can now be taken out of the hands of the medical practitioner.