The fear is specific: that a diagnosis, or a hospital stay, goes automatically to the DMV and the licence goes with it. The statutes say something narrower.

The short answer: there is no law that makes your psychiatrist report your diagnosis to the DMV, and no psychiatric condition is on the list doctors must report. The mandatory report is for "a disorder characterized by lapses of consciousness" — defined by regulation as conditions that involve "a loss of consciousness or a marked reduction of alertness or responsiveness to external stimuli," "the inability to perform one or more activities of daily living," and "the impairment of the sensory motor functions used to operate a motor vehicle," with examples such as Alzheimer's disease, seizure disorders and narcolepsy.¹ ² A physician "may report a patient's condition even if it may not be required" if the physician "reasonably and in good faith believes that the reporting of a patient will serve the public interest."¹ What the DMV can do rests on the Vehicle Code: it "may refuse to issue to, or renew a driver's license of," a person "who has any physical or mental disability, disease, or disorder which could affect the safe operation of a motor vehicle unless the department has medical information which indicates the person may safely operate a motor vehicle";³ it may investigate "upon receiving information or upon a showing by its records" that a listed ground exists, and "may require the re-examination of the licensee";⁴ ⁵ and it may suspend "forthwith and without hearing" where "the safety of the person subject to investigation or reexamination or other persons upon the highways require such action."⁶ Where you are asked, you must answer: the renewal application asks whether you have "a disease, disorder, or disability that affects your ability to drive safely," the original application asks an equivalent medical question, and a "yes" opens an inquiry.⁷

Who has to report what

  • Physicians. "Every physician and surgeon shall report immediately to the local health officer in writing, the name, date of birth, and address of every patient at least 14 years of age or older whom the physician and surgeon has diagnosed as having a case of a disorder characterized by lapses of consciousness."¹ The health officer passes it to the DMV, where it "shall be kept confidential and used solely for the purpose of determining the eligibility of any person to operate a motor vehicle."¹
  • What "lapses of consciousness" means. The Department of Public Health's definition requires all three elements — reduced consciousness or alertness, inability to perform an activity of daily living, and impaired sensory-motor function for driving — and lists "Alzheimer's disease and related disorders, seizure disorders, brain tumors, narcolepsy, sleep apnea, and abnormal metabolic states" as conditions that "may progress to" that level.² No psychiatric diagnosis is named. Depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD and anxiety are not lapses of consciousness; Alzheimer's disease and related dementias are the named example, reportable once they reach the functional severity in the definition.
  • Discretionary reports. The second sentence of the reporting statute lets a physician report a condition outside the definition "if a physician and surgeon reasonably and in good faith believes that the reporting of a patient will serve the public interest," and a physician who reports "shall not be civilly or criminally liable to any patient for making any report required or authorized by this section."¹ That is a "may," and it belongs to physicians; the statute does not mention psychologists or therapists.
  • You. The DMV's own guidance describes how it learns of a condition: you "indicate you have a medical condition that affects your ability to drive within the last 3 years on your driver's license application, renewal notice, or renewal application"; a doctor's report; emergency personnel treating "a sudden loss of consciousness, awareness, or control"; a DMV employee's observation; "unsolicited letters from family members, friends, or neighbors"; a law-enforcement officer; or your driving record.⁷ There is no statute imposing a free-standing duty to write to the DMV about a diagnosis; the duty is to answer the application truthfully.

What the DMV can do with a report

  1. Investigate and reexamine. The department "may conduct an investigation to determine whether the privilege of any person to operate a motor vehicle should be suspended or revoked" on receiving information "that the licensee is a reckless, negligent, or incompetent driver" or "that any ground exists for which a license might be refused."⁴ It "may require the re-examination of the licensee, and shall give 10 days' written notice of the time and place thereof. If the licensee refuses or fails to submit to the re-examination, the department may peremptorily suspend the driving privilege of the person until such time as the licensee shall have submitted to re-examination."⁵
  2. Refuse or restrict. The refusal ground is a "physical or mental disability, disease, or disorder which could affect the safe operation of a motor vehicle unless the department has medical information which indicates the person may safely operate a motor vehicle."³ The DMV's guidelines list the outcomes short of losing the licence: no action; a calendar reexamination; "Medical Probation I: driver must comply with medical regimen and report any changes to DMV"; "Medical Probation II: annual medical reports required to be submitted to DMV on specified dates"; a limited-term licence; restrictions.⁸
  3. Suspend at once. Where the department "determines upon investigation or reexamination that the safety of the person subject to investigation or reexamination or other persons upon the highways require such action," it "shall forthwith and without hearing suspend or revoke" the privilege or impose probation; the order normally takes effect 30 days after written notice, "except that the department shall have authority to make any such order effective immediately upon the giving of notice when in its opinion because of the mental or physical condition of the person such immediate action is required for the safety of the driver or other persons upon the highways."⁶

The DMV's guidance states that "the driver has the right to request a hearing within 10 days after they receive the notice of the order of DL suspension or revocation if DMV's decision is based on a documented medical condition or disability," where "the driver has an opportunity to dispute DMV's evidence or provide new medical evidence."⁸ Its records "relating to the physical or mental condition of any person, are confidential and not open to public inspection."⁹

What the DMV actually looks at

The DMV's published evaluation guidelines say its reviewers look at the condition and diagnosis, "specific symptoms," onset, "date of last episode," "current status," cause, test results and "physician's evaluation/prognosis"; they list "aggravating factors" such as alcohol, drugs, "stress" and "sleep deprivation"; and they say the department "considers all of these conditions independently and together in order to arrive at a decision."⁸ The Driver Medical Evaluation form that a physician completes carries a health-history checklist including "nervous or psychiatric disorder" among many other conditions.⁹ The question throughout is functional — whether the condition "could affect the safe operation of a motor vehicle" — not diagnostic.³ A stable, treated condition with no episodes affecting driving is, on the DMV's own criteria, a very different case from one with recent episodes of confusion or loss of control.

What to do

  • On the application or renewal: answer the medical question truthfully. If your condition does not affect your ability to drive safely, the honest answer is no. If it has — an episode of confusion at the wheel, a medication that impairs you — the answer is yes, and the DMV will investigate, typically by requesting a medical evaluation.⁷ ⁹
  • If you receive a reexamination notice: go. Not appearing means suspension "until such time as the licensee shall have submitted to re-examination."⁵ Bring the completed medical evaluation from the clinician who knows you best.⁹
  • If you receive a suspension or revocation on medical grounds: request the hearing within 10 days of the notice.⁸ New medical evidence is the point of it.
  • Talk to your prescriber about any medication that affects alertness; that, not the diagnosis, is what the functional test catches.³
  • A 5150 hold is not itself a DMV report. Does a 5150 go on my record? →

Worked example

A woman with bipolar I disorder, stable on medication for four years, renews her licence. Her psychiatrist has no duty to report her: bipolar disorder is not a disorder characterized by lapses of consciousness.¹ ² The renewal form asks whether she has a condition affecting her ability to drive safely; she has had no episode affecting her driving and answers no.⁷ Two years later, during a manic episode, she is stopped after driving erratically; the officer files a referral, and the DMV schedules a reexamination with 10 days' written notice.⁵ ⁷ (Had the officer instead handed her a notice of priority reexamination at the roadside, the DMV's guidance says she would have to contact the department within five working days.⁷) She attends, brings her psychiatrist's evaluation showing the episode has resolved and her medication is restored, and the DMV places her on medical probation with annual reports rather than suspending her.⁸ Had she skipped the reexamination, the licence would have been suspended until she attended.⁵

Q&A

Q: I was hospitalized on a 5150. Does the hospital tell the DMV? A: The mandatory-report statute is about lapses of consciousness, and it applies to physicians' diagnoses, not to holds.¹ ² A physician may report in the public interest, but nothing requires it.¹ Does a 5150 go on my record? →

Q: Can my therapist report me to the DMV? A: The reporting statute names physicians and surgeons.¹ A therapist's confidentiality duties are governed by other law. Is therapy confidential? →

Q: My mother has dementia. Does her doctor have to report her? A: "Alzheimer's disease and related disorders" are named in the definition, where the condition has progressed to the level of functional severity the regulation describes;² the statute directs the definition to include "Alzheimer's disease and those related disorders that are severe enough to be likely to impair a person's ability to operate a motor vehicle."¹

Q: Can the DMV take my licence because of a diagnosis alone? A: The refusal ground is a disorder "which could affect the safe operation of a motor vehicle unless the department has medical information which indicates the person may safely operate a motor vehicle."³ The medical evaluation is where that information goes.⁹

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Sources

  1. Cal. Health & Safety Code §103900 — (a) "Every physician and surgeon shall report immediately to the local health officer in writing, the name, date of birth, and address of every patient at least 14 years of age or older whom the physician and surgeon has diagnosed as having a case of a disorder characterized by lapses of consciousness. However, if a physician and surgeon reasonably and in good faith believes that the reporting of a patient will serve the public interest, he or she may report a patient's condition even if it may not be required under the department's definition of disorders characterized by lapses of consciousness pursuant to subdivision (d)"; (b) the local health officer's report to the Department of Motor Vehicles; (c) the reports "shall be kept confidential and used solely for the purpose of determining the eligibility of any person to operate a motor vehicle on the highways of this state"; (d) the department "shall define disorders characterized by lapses of consciousness … and shall include Alzheimer's disease and those related disorders that are severe enough to be likely to impair a person's ability to operate a motor vehicle in the definition"; (f) "A physician and surgeon who reports a patient diagnosed as a case of a disorder characterized by lapses of consciousness pursuant to this section shall not be civilly or criminally liable to any patient for making any report required or authorized by this section" — california.public.law.
  2. 17 Cal. Code Regs. §2806 — (a) "'Disorders characterized by lapses of consciousness' means those medical conditions that involve: (1) a loss of consciousness or a marked reduction of alertness or responsiveness to external stimuli; and (2) the inability to perform one or more activities of daily living; and (3) the impairment of the sensory motor functions used to operate a motor vehicle"; (b) "Examples of medical conditions that do not always, but may progress to the level of functional severity described in subsection (a) of this section include Alzheimer's disease and related disorders, seizure disorders, brain tumors, narcolepsy, sleep apnea, and abnormal metabolic states, including hypo- and hyperglycemia associated with diabetes" — law.cornell.edu.
  3. Cal. Vehicle Code §12806 — "The department may refuse to issue to, or renew a driver's license of, any person: … (c) Who has a disorder characterized by lapses of consciousness or who has experienced, within the last three years, either a lapse of consciousness or an episode of marked confusion caused by any condition which may bring about recurrent lapses, or who has any physical or mental disability, disease, or disorder which could affect the safe operation of a motor vehicle unless the department has medical information which indicates the person may safely operate a motor vehicle. In making its determination, the department may rely on any relevant information available to the department" — california.public.law.
  4. Cal. Vehicle Code §13800 — "The department may conduct an investigation to determine whether the privilege of any person to operate a motor vehicle should be suspended or revoked or whether terms or conditions of probation should be imposed upon receiving information or upon a showing by its records: … (d) That the licensee is a reckless, negligent, or incompetent driver of a motor vehicle … (f) That any ground exists for which a license might be refused" — california.public.law.
  5. Cal. Vehicle Code §13801 — "In addition to the investigation, the department may require the re-examination of the licensee, and shall give 10 days' written notice of the time and place thereof. If the licensee refuses or fails to submit to the re-examination, the department may peremptorily suspend the driving privilege of the person until such time as the licensee shall have submitted to re-examination. The suspension shall be effective upon notice" — california.public.law.
  6. Cal. Vehicle Code §13953 — "in the event the department determines upon investigation or reexamination that the safety of the person subject to investigation or reexamination or other persons upon the highways require such action, the department shall forthwith and without hearing suspend or revoke the privilege of the person to operate a motor vehicle or impose reasonable terms and conditions of probation … No order of suspension or revocation or the imposition of terms or conditions of probation shall become effective until 30 days after the giving of written notice thereof to the person affected, except that the department shall have authority to make any such order effective immediately upon the giving of notice when in its opinion because of the mental or physical condition of the person such immediate action is required for the safety of the driver or other persons upon the highways" — california.public.law.
  7. California DMV, "Deteriorated Driving Skill" — "How was DMV notified?": "You indicate you have a medical condition that affects your ability to drive within the last 3 years on your driver's license application, renewal notice, or renewal application"; physician reports; emergency personnel; a DMV employee's observation; "Unsolicited letters from family members, friends, or neighbors who report that you may no longer be able to drive safely"; a law enforcement officer; the driving record; "If you were referred by a Priority reexamination (law enforcement referral), you must contact DMV within 5 working days of receiving the notice (citation) from the traffic enforcement officer"; and "If you do not appear for the reexamination as scheduled, your driving privilege will be suspended as stated by law (CVC §13801) until such time as you do appear and complete the reexamination" — dmv.ca.gov. See also the DMV's "Senior Drivers" guide: "Your DL renewal application asks if you have a disease, disorder, or disability that affects your ability to drive safely. Answering 'Yes' requires further investigation by DMV" — dmv.ca.gov.
  8. California DMV, "Evaluation Guidelines" — the "Physical or Mental Condition and History" factors as quoted; "Aggravating Factors" including "Stress" and "Sleep deprivation"; "DMV considers all of these conditions independently and together in order to arrive at a decision"; the decision options as quoted, including "Medical Probation I: driver must comply with medical regimen and report any changes to DMV" and "Medical Probation II: annual medical reports required to be submitted to DMV on specified dates"; "CVC §14100 states that the driver has the right to request a hearing within 10 days after they receive the notice of the order of DL suspension or revocation if DMV's decision is based on a documented medical condition or disability"; "If the driver requests a hearing, the driver has an opportunity to dispute DMV's evidence or provide new medical evidence to show that the action should not be sustained" — dmv.ca.gov.
  9. California DMV, Driver Medical Evaluation, form DS 326 (rev. 6/2020) — the health-history checklist including "Nervous or psychiatric disorder"; "Medical information is required under the authority of Divisions 6 and 7 of the California Vehicle Code (CVC)"; "All records of the DMV, relating to the physical or mental condition of any person, are confidential and not open to public inspection (CVC §1808.5)" — dmv.ca.gov (PDF).

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