When can you be asked to retake a driving-licence test?

The Motorizzazione or, in specified cases, the Prefect may order a review of a licence if doubts arise about the holder’s physical or mental requirements or technical fitness to drive. The review may require a medical visit or a fitness test. It concerns the driver, not the vehicle’s periodic roadworthiness inspection.

What a licence review checks

Article 128 of the Italian Road Code allows the competent offices and, in some cases, the Prefect to require a visit to a Local Medical Commission or a fitness test. The measure checks whether the licence holder still meets the requirements for driving. The notice should identify the assessment required and explain how or when to attend.

A review may concern physical or mental fitness, or technical ability. It is not an automatic periodic exam for every licence holder, and it is not a vehicle inspection: the latter concerns the car’s technical condition and follows a different process. Read the notice to see whether you must attend a medical assessment, a test or both.

Follow the notice and ask for clarification

If you do not attend the required assessments within the stated period, Article 128 provides for the licence to be suspended until you pass them. Do not ignore the notice or confuse a review with an ordinary renewal. If the order or test location is unclear, contact the office named in the notice before the deadline.

For example, an order requiring a technical fitness review may require a test; a review of health requirements may involve a doctor or Commission. A review does not automatically mean that the licence has already been revoked, but you must comply with any suspension or restriction already notified.

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