What is the Medical Institute for Road Safety (MRBD)?

The Medical Institute for Road Safety is neither a court nor a prosecutor. It assesses whether you are fit to drive, medically and in terms of personality, and sends a recommendation to the Licensing Authority. Referrals usually follow a conviction for drunk or drugged driving, a high points total, an accident, a doctor's report, age, an application for a professional licence, or a disability. The Licensing Authority may suspend your licence until you are examined (Traffic Ordinance, section 52).

The assessment includes questionnaires, a medical examination, psychological tests and an interview, and sometimes a referral to an outside specialist. The outcome: fit, fit with conditions (a restricted licence, periodic checks), or unfit for a period, usually a year, followed by re-examination. The wait for an appointment is long, so book immediately.

The number that matters: 30 days. A decision on medical fitness grounds is appealed to a medical appeals committee of physicians (Traffic Ordinance, section 55a), on payment of a fee. The committee may uphold, vary or cancel the decision, or order a fresh examination. The committee's decision can be appealed to the Administrative Affairs Court, on a question of law only, not on whether the doctors "got it wrong".

What a lawyer does: establishes the ground for referral and asks for it in writing, builds a medical file before the examination (the treating doctor's opinion, treatment summaries, test results), prepares you for the interview, and if needed files a reasoned appeal with a counter-opinion and represents you before the committee. Most cases are decided at the examination itself.

Source in law: Traffic Ordinance [New Version], sections 51, 52 and 55a