Depression and anxiety increase the risk of car accidents by 72%, study finds

Drivers with mood or anxiety disorders have a 72% higher risk of accidents than the population without these conditions. This is what a report by the University of Granada, in Spain, prepared at the request of the DGT — the country’s traffic authority — points out, which systematically reviewed scientific production on the subject between 2015 and 2025.

The survey, conducted by the CIMCYC research center, of the same university, screened 288 studies and retained 31 after applying quality criteria. According to the authors, conditions such as depression compromise executive functions that are fundamental to directing, including sustained attention, reaction speed and quick decision-making. Anxiety mainly affects attention control, while bipolar disorder would be the most persistent, with alterations that remain even in phases of remission.

The data that most worries researchers is underreporting. Although about 34% of the Spanish population lives with a mental disorder, only 0.63% of drivers report this condition when renewing their license at the country’s assessment centers. The central problem, they point out, is the absence of a mechanism that crosses the medical history with the traffic authority: neither psychiatrists nor clinicians are required to communicate the agency, so safety ends up depending on the driver’s self-declaration.

In addition to the disorder itself, the report highlights medication as a critical point. Antidepressants with sedative properties, especially when combined with benzodiazepines, can impair coordination and alertness in a way comparable to alcohol consumption—an effect that the authors say they measured by varying the car’s position in the lane. The combination would be riskier between young and old. On the other hand, antidepressants without sedative effect did not show relevant changes in driving performance.

The researchers point out that the study does not advocate prohibiting those who use medications. The conclusion is that the problem is not in the diagnosis label, but in the driver’s real clinical state: in cases of partially remitted depression, with stability, the tests in the simulator and on the track pointed to performance close to that of drivers without the disorder.

For this reason, the CIMCYC report does not call for tougher laws, but for effective psychological evaluations in license renewals – with special attention to professional drivers and the elderly – capable of identifying who is able to drive safely and who needs medical monitoring before getting behind the wheel.