Motorsport

I had  an ICD fitted 2 1/2 years ago with no interventions in that time.

I have always been an amateur race driver of classic cars and motorcycles but both licence authorities , the MSA and ACU have refused my licence renewal to race due to the ICD even though if I just had a pacemaker I could race

does anyone have experience of this issue . It seems counter intuitive as I can drive / ride on the road with  a DVLA licence

thanks

 

3 Comments

driving

by Tracey_E - 2023-03-11 14:09:30

We can't get any type of commercial license with an icd. That's pretty standard everywhere. Regular driving is ok but that's it. 

Feel your pain

by fattima - 2023-03-11 17:20:24

Similar has happened to me.

As soon as I turned 45 Motorpsort Australia (the governing body here) make you get a full medical, broadly similar to what a pilot needs. For better or worse at one of these checks is when my heart condition was noticed, I had a few symptoms before that.
From that point on my licence to race was refused and I've had to become a spectator, still have my car that I really should sell. As you say it seems crazy I can drive on the road but not a race track, I trust the people on the track more than your average road user!

It took me a while to adjust but I've found other interests, am still involved with cars and now play around with more off road vehicles that I can enjoy with my partner.

Have you raced since having the ICD? I wondered how a race harmness would feel over the implant. I only just got my implant so was curious about that.

Hope you are doing OK, it really bothered me at first as it was a big part of my life. But now I'm happy looking back on what I got to do (raced on Bathurst here and drove at Sonoma in the States), life moves on.

Cheers

Bruce

Motorsport

by AgentX86 - 2023-03-11 21:54:45

It's really not all that surprising that the race sanctioning authority would pull your license where the state doesn't.  In this world you need to drive on the road to function in society but hobbies are another thing. 

The larger issue is that when you're driving, the liability is on you.  When you're on the track, they take a lion's share of the liability (potentially many million$).  Lawyers, isurance companies, CYA.

You know you're wired when...

Your pacemaker receives radio frequencies.

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