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Advances in Psychiatric Treatment (2004) 10: 439-445
© 2004 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

Psychiatry, the law and death on the roads

Harvey Gordon

Harvey Gordon is a consultant forensic psychiatrist at Littlemore Mental Health Centre (Sandford Road, Littlemore, Oxon OX4 4XN, UK. E-mail: Harvey.gordon{at}oxmhc-tr.nhs.uk) and an honorary senior lecturer in forensic psychiatry at the University of Oxford. He has also worked at Broadmoor Hospital and at the Maudsley and Bethlem Royal Hospitals.

The motor vehicle on the road has a history of only just over 100 years. It is a major form of personal and public transport, but is also associated with hazards and risks. Many more people are killed on the roads each year in Britain than are the victims of homicide. General and forensic pyschiatric evaluation of offenders charged with or convicted of motoring offences is, however, infrequent, despite the presence of mental health problems in some of them. I describe psychiatric, criminological and legal factors associated with driving of motor vehicles, as many psychiatric patients have driving licences and have access to a vehicle or, indeed, may decide to drive unlicensed.