Diabetics who keep too tight a rein on their blood sugar levels risk having traffic accidents due to low blood sugar, according to new Canadian research reported on health news website Healthday.

And the findings have led the authors to question some of the rules regarding driving licences for diabetics in many countries.

Diabetics are recommended to keep their blood sugar under control in order to manage their condition and ward off complications such as heart and kidney disease.

But when blood sugar drops too low this is known as hypoglycaemia and can cause dizziness and loss of consciousness.

The researchers collected data on 795 diabetics and found that, contrary to popular theory, diabetics with good blood sugar control are more likely to be involved in car accidents.

This is in contrast to rules in many countries requiring diabetics to demonstrate good blood sugar control as a condition of their driver’s licences.

Diabetics are recommended to check their blood sugar levels before they get into the car and make sure they are not too low.