Question regarding licence renewal after disqualification

[madeastupidmistake]

Ok, I got banned from driving for 12 months (failing to provide) and have done the DD Rehab course and have my cert of completion and my ban reduction is now in place.

Ok lets say I was banned on the 5th of January this year (2011) this would bring my ban down from 12 to 9 months so instead of having my ban lifted on the 5th of January 2012 it will instead be 5th October, but I would be able to apply for my licence renewal/reinstatement three months before this date (as I am a HRO) so that would be 5th of July.

Ok people this goes out to those of you who have either already been through the process of having a medical and have your licences back or those going through it at the moment.

So say I was:

• Banned on the 5th of Jan 2011
• Did the DDRC Course and have my ban reduction in place; ban due to end on the 5th of October 2011

• Can re-apply for my driving licence on the 5th of July (3 months prior to my ban ending)

If I posted my D1 form for renewal on the very day that I am first eligable to do so (the 5th of July) what sort of a time frame am I looking at from this very first step of re-applying for my licence and to then getting my medical over and done with and then finally getting my driving licence back? Reading on the forums here, it all doesn't sound too promising, and the general consensus seems to be that the whole process from start to finish for the High Risk Offenders getting their licences back is an extremely long one, often lasting for months on end...from when they first apply for their licences 3 months before their ban ends and to when they actually physically get their licenes back...one guy waited well over 4 months??? Another guy 2 or 3 ??
Do the DVLA really take such an agonisingly long time to get you through a medical and then to inform you of their decision of whether or not to reinstate your driving licence?? If so, why the hell do we even bother doing the DD course...???

I am also kinda worried about the medical, I hardly ever drink - in fact in all honesty, I never drink at all other than the occasional night out once in a blue moon, like for a wedding or somebody's party ...and on such occassions I do tend to push the boat out quite a bit.
I used to go on benders quite a lot (like every weekend, but not drinking at all through the week). Maybe I am worrying for nothing but I am frightened of failing the medical when I hardly ever drink at all other than on occassions, but on those occassions I do go mad lol.
The lady who was my DD Course provider, said that the national failure rate for the DVLA HRO Medical was only 8% and that it was very rare for people to fail and that most people have nothing to worry about, even heavy drinkers can pass the medical if they abstain from alcohol completely for about one or two months prior to taking the medical...can anyone confirm this for me?

I guess the main thing I am worried about is whether or not I shall pass the medical and my additional worry is how long the whole process will take...could someone give a rough estimate, taking into account the given dates/months I provided?

Hope someone here can reassure me (or even give some hard truth) whatever, good or bad news...I just want to know.

Thanks guys (and girls) for reading

 

[newuser2011]

Hi there mate, I was disqualified from driving in 2002 (DR10) and I blew 94 at the cop shop but was VERY lucky as I only got a 12 month ban but also was fined £700 which hit me really hard as I was over my overdraft limit at the time (but i never did the drink driving awareness course and had to wait out the whole ban. ..oh and I aint on here because I re-offended, btw, beleive me I learned my lesson when it came to getting sloshed at the local boozer and deciding to drive in my car back home all because I was too lazy to do the 10 minutes walk back.
when I my ban finished back in April 2003 I had to the the DVLA medical test which I can promise you now is nothing to worry about as it;s main purpose and intention is to catch out alcoholics, heavy drinkers and regular drinkers. If your just the average person who drinks occassionally I think you will honestly be ok mate. I did my medical with the doctor he got me to answer a good few questions, mainly drink related and about lifestyle and he weighed me and made sure my eyesight was up to scratch (woulda have hoped so because I was only 22 years young at the time ) and then took a wee sample which I think is to check for illegal drugs then blood pressure and blood tests.
so was a worrying and painful wait and mainly because I was so worried about failing : I used to binge drink quite alot like especially when I was in my teens so i didn't know if it had done any damage to my liver. I also didnt' and still don't eat particularly healthly so that worried me too but honest you have nothing to fear, you will pass so long as you are not a frequent drinker like drink every single day like some saddo and you are not an alcohol dependant then you will be ok. And believe me mate, they will KNOW if you are an alcholholic or not, trust me, from the result they will be able to tell. about three weeks after I did medical test I got my driving lisence back in the post but not with any results not sure why but I didn't care at that point. Hope this helps you a bit and alleviates any worry or doubtds you may have about the medical

 

[newuser2011]

oh and i forgot to add mate, that if you have something wrong with yuor liver but it's not because your an alcoholic then that's ok...just be sure to tell the doc but not that it matters because the medical test is alchohol specific...I have Hepatits B and the DVLa doctor said that was ok as the test only looks for evidence of alcohol abuse.

 

[corsa vs traffic cone]

That's the info i was looking for! thanks newuser2011! i'll have to do my medical soon ( i had 104 in breath... tut tut )... and had a few big parties in past 6 months (as they mention they check past 6 months)...so a bit nervous... i'm off alcohol for rest of 4 months now to make sure my liver recovers!....