| Administrative Rules |
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| History of Rule |
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In 1999 the Oregon Legislature approved House Bill 2446, authorizing DMV to convene a committee to study the effects of aging on driving ability.
The committee met over the course of two years and developed a set of 26 comprehensive recommendations, which were presented to the 2001 Legislature. The members of the Older Driver Advisory Committee concluded that chronological age alone does not represent a valid or reliable criterion for assessing risk of being involved in a motor vehicle crash. Similarly, the presence of various medical conditions does not support the conclusion that a driver lacks the ability to drive.
DMV submitted legislation arising from the Older Driver Advisory Committee’s report, House Bill 3071, which was approved during Oregon’s 2001 Legislative Session. This legislation states that determinations regarding a person’s ability to safely operate a motor vehicle may NOT be based solely on diagnosis of a medical condition, but must be based on the actual effect of a cognitive or functional impairment on the person’s ability to safely operate a motor vehicle.
A twelve-member Medical Work Group, comprised of both physicians and health care providers, was recruited to work in consultation with DMV to identify cognitive and functional impairments likely to affect a person’s ability to safely operate a motor vehicle, and to designate physicians and health care providers required to report a person demonstrating these impairments to DMV.
Based on recommendations from the Medical Work Group, DMV developed Administrative Rules. Public hearings on DMV’s new mandatory medical reporting rules were held during February and March, 2003. The rules were finalized and sent to the Oregon Transportation Commission for approval in May.
The new medical reporting rules went into effect in six Oregon counties in June, 2003 and was subsequently phased in over 12 months. The entire state became subject to the new requirements on June 1, 2004.
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