Russia Bans Gays, Disabled, Short People From Driving

Russia has amended its road safety laws that ban those with certain disabilities from driving, hoping it will reduce fatalities from traffic accidents.

Signed by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, the new decree on road safety prohibited limb amputees, people with hereditary eye diseases, and those with a height shorter than 150 centimeters, or five feet, from driving.

Gambling addicts and kleptomaniacs may also be denied driving licenses under the new rules.

But in a bizarre amendment, Russia also announced that licenses won't be issued to citizens who are suffering from "personality and behavior disorders" including "disorders of sexual preference."

In fact, the new road safety law listed transsexualism and transvestism among the health conditions that could prove dangerous to drivers. Thus, transsexuals and transgenders were barred from driving.

The Telegraph reported that fetishism, exhibitionism, and voyeurism are now being considered as "disorders associated with sexual development and orientation" that are deemed to be unsafe on Russian roads.

The Russian government explained it is tightening medical controls for drivers because the country has been having too many road accidents. Around 200,000 traffic accidents killed over 28,000 people in Russia in 2011 alone, the Washington Post reported.

But Russian psychiatrists and human rights lawyers have condemned the move, warning that if taken literally it would allow authorities to intrude into people's private lives.

The Association of Russian Lawyers for Human Rights said the law bans "all transgender people, bigender, asexuals, transvestites, cross-dressers, and people who need sex reassignment" from driving.

Calling the new law "discriminatory," the group criticized the decree for making no exception for modern prophetic limbs or customized vehicles that can allow amputees and people shorter than 150 cm to drive safely, according to the Telegraph.

It vowed to demand clarifications from the Russian Constitutional Court and seek support from international human rights organizations.

Meanwhile, Russian Psychiatric Association's Valery Evtushenko expressed concern that the new driving restrictions would prevent patients from seeking psychiatric help for fear of being prohibited to drive.

The Russian government's announcement came despite a slew of international complaints about Russian harassment of gay-rights activists.