Medical Fitness-to-Drive Screening

A Comprehensive Evaluation for Driving and Community Mobility

Call for an Appointment 919-684-2445

Driving safely can be an important part of your return to independence following an injury, illness, or accident. Our occupational therapists will assess your physical well-being to determine your medical fitness to drive. A referral from your health care provider is required to receive a clinical evaluation from our occupational therapists. The cost is $200 and is not covered by insurance.

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Who May Benefit from a Driving Evaluation

Our assessment is ideal for anyone whose driving ability may have been affected by an injury or illness. It’s particularly helpful if you:

A referral is necessary for an evaluation. You can have your doctor fax your referral to 919-479-2668.

Our Locations

Duke Health offers evaluations in Durham and Raleigh.

Evaluation Process

You won’t be driving a car during our evaluation. You’ll work one-on-one with an occupational therapist in an indoor setting at one of our clinics to identify problems that may affect your driving. Testing takes about two hours and includes tasks like writing and drawing to assess attention, memory, and processing speed and using a computer to practice aspects of driving. Our occupational therapists will assess your physical abilities and cognitive skills.

Call for an Appointment

What’s Evaluated

Our goal is to make sure you can remain mobile in your community by driving your vehicle in different situations. During your evaluation, our occupational therapist will test your skills for driving at different times of day and under different conditions, including:

  • Sharpness of vision and depth perception
  • Visual perception skills
  • Night vision 
  • Memory and cognitive ability
  • Judgment and ability to make safe decisions
  • Comprehension of road rules and regulations
  • Physical strength and coordination
  • Eye-foot and hand-eye reaction time

Clearance to Drive

Medical fitness-to-drive assessments are different for everyone. We may recommend additional testing or resources to ensure you can drive safely or suggest equipment that can be installed in your vehicle to help. Our occupational therapists do not have the authority to issue or revoke a driver’s license.

We’ll share test results with you and your health care provider to determine next steps. If you were referred to the Duke Driving Program by the state DMV Medical Review Program, they’ll also receive a copy of our report. 

If it’s determined you also need a road test with a North Carolina-certified driving instructor, we’ll help you coordinate an evaluation with a separate company. The cost for this test varies based on where you live and how much time you’ll spend with the instructor.

Consistently Ranked Among the Nation’s Best Hospitals

Duke University Hospital is proud of our team and the exceptional care they provide. They are why we are once again recognized as the best hospital in North Carolina, and nationally ranked in 11 adult and 9 pediatric specialties by U.S. News & World Report for 2023–2024.

This page was medically reviewed on 03/28/2023 by