Five orphaned Russian children and their foster parents died in June 2011 when a car slammed into them as they waited at a Moscow bus stop. (Photo: Sergey Ponomarev, AP) 
 
 Extending Russia's legal campaign against homosexuality, a new law aimed at reducing traffic deaths denies driver's licences to people with "disorders" involving sexual preference and gender identity. 
 
 The decree, signed Dec. 29 by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, empowers officials to ban transsexual and transgender people from driving, along with others suffering from such "mental disorders" as fetishism, exhibitionism, voyeurism, compulsive theft or "pathological" gambling, the BBC and Mashable reported Thursday. 
 
 Specifically, the decree — "to promote public health" — applies to those with "gender identity disorders, disorders of sexual preference and psychological and behavioral disorders associated with sexual development and orientation." 
 
 The rules also apply to people with schizophrenia, "mood" disorders and "neurotic, stress-related" problems. 
 
 "The decisions are aimed at reducing deaths from vehicular accidents," the decree declares, according to a translation provided to USA TODAY. 
 
 Nearly 28,000 fatalities -- 55 per 100,000 vehicles -- occurred on Russian roads in 2012, according to the most recent statistics available. (The United States recorded 8,000 more traffic deaths the same year, but the per-100,000-vehicle rate was only 13.6.) 
 
 Russia defends the restrictions by citing the World Health Organization's International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems. However, the compendium contains this note: "Sexual orientation by itself is not to be regarded as a disorder." 
 
 The move has been condemned by Russian psychiatrists and human rights lawyers, while the country's Professional Drivers Union endorsed the restrictions for pros (trucks and bus drivers, for instance) to improve safety on the country's notoriously deadly roads. 
 
 Mikhail Strakhov, a psychiatric expert in Russia, told the BBC Russian Service that the definition of "personality disorders" was too vague and that some disorders would not affect anyone's ability to drive safely. 
 
 Valery Evtushenko, from the Russian Psychiatric Association, told the BBC he worries that some people would avoid seeking psychiatric help, fearing a driving ban. 
 
 The new law is "discriminatory," the Association of Russian Lawyers for Human Rights said, adding that it would ask the Russian Constitutional Court for clarification. 
 
 Citing the country's many road deaths, the head of the Professional Drivers Union, Alexander Kotov, told the BBC that "toughening medical requirements for applicants is fully justified" for pros but too strict for others. 
 
 In 2013, Russia outlawed "promoting non-traditional lifestyles," a measure aimed at gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered people. 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1IwwlC1 ||||| A decree Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed on Dec. 29 could ban transgender people from driving cars, along with others diagnosed with a long list of "disorders of sexual preference." 
 
 The provision is part of a broad document outlining the medical conditions that disqualify people from driving or impose limitations on their driving rights. The list of "contraindications" to operating a vehicle includes blindness and epilepsy. But it also references a set of "mental and behavioral disorders" as defined by the World Health Organization, which include "gender identity disorders" such as "transsexualism" and "dual-role transvestism." The order also encompasses "disorders of sexual preference," including "sadomasochism," "paedophilia," and "exhibitionism." 
 
 This provision seems to be a small step in the Russian government's ongoing campaign against LGBT people, which began with the adoption of the so-called "homosexual propaganda" ban in 2013. The new rule, which implements a law titled "On Road Safety," relies on the World Health Organization's most recent manual for classifying illnesses, formally known as the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, commonly called the ICD-10. 
 
 The decree states that the listed mental and behavioral disorders can preclude driving if they are "chronic and prolonged," with "serious" or "frequently exacerbated" symptoms. It covers a wide range of conditions on the ICD-10's list of mental and behavioral disorders, including dementia, schizophrenia and mood disorders, but excludes others such as eating disorders, certain sleep disorders and nymphomania. 
 
 The ICD-10 does not classify homosexuality as a "disorder of sexual preference," however, though someone who wishes to change their sexual orientation or gender identity "because of associated psychological and behavioural disorders" can be diagnosed as having a condition called "egodystonic sexual orientation." Russian authorities often enforce provisions in a way that is much broader than a strict interpretation would allow, however, and this is unlikely to matter if officials seek to use this rule to prevent gays, lesbians, and bisexuals from driving. 
 
 The Association of Russian Lawyers for Human Rights said the decree "demonstrates bias against certain individuals and groups of citizens, as well as significantly restricting the rights and freedoms of citizens as a whole." 
 
 Nils Muižnieks, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, called on Russia to amend the order. "The new Russian rules banning people from driving because of their gender identity are ridiculous and unlawful," he wrote in a statement on Facebook. "Discriminating against people on these grounds is a violation of European human rights norms and risks exacerbating an already hostile climate against LGBTI in Russia." 
 
 In comments published by Russia's state-owned RIA Novosti news service Tuesday, Russian Ministry of Health spokesman Oleg Salagay said that sexual orientation would not factor in the issuance of driver's licenses, and that only a small percentage of people with the listed disorders were likely to have symptoms serious enough to be banned from driving. 
 
 "This approach is flexible and allows people with mental disorders that are not of a chronic and prolonged character, with serious, persistent symptoms, the greatest possible degree of participation in society," he said.
– Russia is a dangerous place to drive, and authorities there seem to believe that getting transgender people off the roads will somehow make them safer. A new law tightens medical controls for drivers, and transgender people are among those classified with "disorders," meaning they can be refused driver's licenses, the BBC reports. Voyeurs, exhibitionists, fetishists, and others could also be banned under the law, which applies to people with "gender identity disorders, disorders of sexual preference, and psychological and behavioral disorders associated with sexual development and orientation," USA Today reports. People with schizophrenia and assorted "mood disorders" will also be banned from driving. Gays and lesbians will still be allowed on the road: "Sexual orientation by itself is not to be regarded as a disorder," the law states. Human rights groups have denounced the new law, which psychiatrists warn could prevent people from seeking help out of fear of being banned from driving. Russia's accident rate is more than four times that of the US at 55 fatalities per 100,000 vehicles a year, adding up to 28,000 deaths a year. Less controversially, the law also bans blind people from driving, reports BuzzFeed.