“Are police going to come to my office?”

“Why should I go to the emergency room for help if this is going to happen?”

“I can’t get to my appointments any more because public transit triggers my anxiety.”

“My one incident of mild depression – for which I sought treatment! – has resulted in two years of discrimination and stigma.”

A recent public forum convened by the Empowerment Council at CAMH gave dozens of attendees an opportunity to voice their experiences with just some of the serious consequences that result from driver’s license suspensions.

The stories all shared a common concern. Under Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act, emergency room and other doctors are required to notify the Ministry of Transportation where they believe someone “is suffering from a condition that may make it dangerous for the person to operate a motor vehicle,” or where they believe someone “suffer[s] from any mental, emotional, nervous or physical condition or disability likely to significantly interfere with his or her ability to drive a motor vehicle.”

But for clients with mental illness, this is a very slippery slope. Assessment guidelines published by the Canadian Medical Association and the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators are very generalized and offer little mental health specific diagnostic criteria or appropriate questions to ask. There’s no evidence-based scientific research that predicts the dangers of an accident, or shows a relationship between mental health needs and driving risk. And discrimination is nothing more than a statutorily mandated after-thought; the Highway Traffic Act was specifically amended in 2011 to shield the Ministry of Transportation and doctors from human rights complaints. This despite the fact that a single assessment or admission for a first instance of depression can result in a 5-year license suspension!

The stories shared at the roundtable spoke to the devastating effects such suspensions can have. It can force someone to reveal their mental health issues to friends, family members, children, and bosses. It can impact a persons ability to maintain or find employment, or to live independently, particularly in rural areas. And perhaps worst of all, it has a chilling effect on those who might need help the most by penalizing their efforts at reaching out when in crisis, and shattering a sense of trust in their health care worker or health facility.

The numbers are also startling. Information obtained from the Ministry of Transportation shows that in 2011, around 24,500 suspensions were issued for medical reasons. Yet a “medical / physical disability” is cited as the condition of the driver in only 1,000 out of 385,000 collisions across Ontario that year.

Unsurprisingly, the discussion at the public forum quickly turned to empowerment and change.  There is cause for optimism as years of advocacy around this issue are beginning to see results. A human rights case was recently granted leave to continue before the Human Rights Tribunal. It challenges both the provisions of the Highway Traffic Act itself as well as the Ministry of Transportation’s medical review and appeal process as violating the human rights of persons with mental health issues. Law students at Osgoode Hall Law School have also taken up the cause, producing excellent public education and self-advocacy information through a dedicated website at http://pdals.wordpress.com/. And advocates at the Empowerment Council are looking to raise the need for systemic change.