Driving licence and disabilities
If you have a driving licence and suffer an injury or illness, you may need special equipment that allows you to drive. This may involve adapting the car or providing special equipment, such as automatic transmission..
You may need to include condition codes on your driving licence when you need special equipment or adaptations. Your doctor can report this to the Swedish Transport Agency, but you can also contact the Swedish Transport Agency yourself. Our investigator will then contact you for a chat and practical tests. We send suggestions for condition codes to the Swedish Transport Agency based on the results of these tests. The investigation is free of charge.
Adapted car
If you need your car to be adapted to be able to drive, there are two things you can do:
- Contact a company to install the adaptation you need. You will then pay for the adaptation yourself, even if you have conditions in your driving licence that show you have to have the adaptation.
- Apply for a car allowance from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency. The adaptation can be paid for if you are entitled to car allowance.
How the car allowance works
Car allowance is a state subsidy for anyone who finds it very difficult to get around or use public transport because of a disability. Carers of children with disabilities are also entitled to car allowance if the disability makes it very difficult for the child to get around.
When you have made contact with the Swedish Social Insurance Agency, you will meet with a car allowance investigator at our centre. The role of the investigator is to suggest adaptation based on your or your child’s needs. The car allowance investigator looks at factors such as
- if special original equipment is needed in the car, such as an automatic gearbox or an electric tailgate
- whether the car needs to be adapted, and if so how; such as hand controls for the accelerator and brake or a wheelchair space
- which car models are suitable for adaptation.
The car allowance consists of various grants that will allow you to buy a vehicle and adapt it to your needs. You may be entitled to car allowance even if you only need certain original equipment in your car, such as an automatic gearbox.
Before you get in touch with our car allowance investigator, it may be worthwhile considering the following questions:
- Will you be driving the car yourself, or just travelling as a passenger?
- Will you have to carry any assistive devices in the car?
- Will you or your child soon be switching to different assistive devices – using a different wheelchair, for example?
- How many people do you need to get in the car?
We will contact you when your car has been adapted, and together we will check that your car and the adaptations work, meet your needs and are roadworthy.