Psychiatric disorders and motor vehicle crash risk : a review of the literature.

Recent published work on the crash risk of drivers diagnosed with dementia, functional psychoses, anxiety disorders and personality disorders is reviewed. Despite relatively little published research in this area, some suggestive findings are available. Researchers stress that knowing someone has been diagnosed with a mental illness would not provide sufficient grounds for a licensing decision. The crash risk of ht e mentally ill driver depends upon the type and severity of the disorder and, if drug therapy is prescribed, the effects of medication use. The major findings associated with each disorder category are presented in Table 1 on page 18. These findings are offered solely as an information resource for clinicians and administrators.