It becomes mandatory in Romania! Some people will be able to lose their driving license quickly, depending on their health, under a new bill. What exactly is it about?
GPs will be required to report drivers with psychological problems
If a proposed bill is passed, GPs will be required to report drivers with psychological problems that could affect their ability to drive. In addition, they will also be required to refer those drivers for psychological evaluation.
The legislative proposal was also discussed in the past, about 20 years ago, but was not implemented. The current project presents certain problematic aspects from a legal point of view. The GP who observes that a driver is showing symptoms of psychological problems will be required to issue a referral ticket.
The referral ticket will contain information about the symptoms observed. He will be referred to an independent licensed psychologist.
The dispatch ticket is sent directly to the driver. Based on this, the driver is required to submit to a psychological evaluation. It must do so within three working days of its receipt.
If the psychological assessment determines that he is not fit to drive, the result is communicated by the responsible psychologist within one working day of the driver’s assessment. The information is sent both to the Traffic Police in the area where the driver lives and to the family doctor.
In the situation where the driver is considered psychologically fit to drive, the psychologist will inform the family doctor within 15 days of completing the assessment.
A similar project was approached almost 20 years ago, but did not receive approval
Lucian Diniţă, the man who led the Traffic Police Department between 2009 and 2014, explained that a similar project was approached almost 20 years ago. However, it did not receive approval. The family doctors did not agree with this project. The Hippocratic Oath, which emphasizes the importance of medical confidentiality and secrecy, could be violated.
There is an inconsistency: in order to suspend the right to drive due to the consumption of alcohol or drugs, a medico-legal certificate is required. Whereas, for the withdrawal of the right to drive, it could be based only on a recommendation from a psychologist.
“The doctors did not agree. Through the College of Physicians, we were told that we have the Hippocratic Oath, which claims confidentiality in the practice of the medical profession, medical secrecy. Now I also see a problem of legality with this bill.
That is, to suspend the right to drive for a certain period of time for alcohol or drugs, we need the medico-legal certificate, and for the withdrawal, I repeat, the withdrawal of the right to drive, is a paper from a psychologist enough?
So how legal does the measure seem to you? I predict that the courts will be filled with drivers who sued the traffic police”, he stated for Adevărul.
