{"id":389583,"date":"2026-01-05T13:12:26","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T13:12:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/389583\/"},"modified":"2026-01-05T13:12:26","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T13:12:26","slug":"drivers-on-nine-types-of-medication-warned-they-may-be-unable-to-drive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/389583\/","title":{"rendered":"Drivers on nine types of medication warned they may be unable to drive"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>GEM head of road safety James Luckhurst stressed that road users on certain medicines could be \u201cunfit to drive\u201d in a major safety risk.<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/0_tablets.jpg\" alt=\"Drivers on nine types of medication warned they may be unable to drive\" loading=\"eager\" \/>Drivers on nine types of medication warned they may be unable to drive<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Drivers on nine types of medication have been warned they could be &#8220;unfit to drive&#8221;. <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.birminghammail.co.uk\/all-about\/midlands-traffic-and-travel\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\">GEM head of road safety James Luckhurst stressed that road users<\/a> on certain medicines could be \u201cunfit to drive\u201d in a major safety risk.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\"><a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.birminghammail.co.uk\/all-about\/midlands-traffic-and-travel\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\">James said: <\/a>&#8220;Some medicines can make you drowsy and therefore unfit to drive. If you ignore the warnings, you could be breaking the law as well as putting yourself and others at increased risk of a collision.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;If you feel unwell, or if any medication you take carries a drowsiness or \u2018may affect driving\u2019 warning, our advice is simple: do not drive. Arrange alternative transport while you recover, or ask your doctor or pharmacist if there\u2019s a non-drowsy alternative.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\"><a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.birminghammail.co.uk\/news\/cost-of-living\/premium-bonds-holders-urged-consider-33060049\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\">READ MORE Premium Bonds holders urged to consider withdrawing cash from NS&amp;I<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">It\u2019s illegal in England, Scotland and Wales to drive with legal drugs in your body if it impairs your driving.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">It\u2019s an offence to drive if you have over the specified limits of certain drugs in your blood and you have not been prescribed them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Talk to your doctor about whether you should drive if you\u2019ve been prescribed any of the following drugs:<\/p>\n<p>amphetamine, for example dexamphetamine or selegilineclonazepamdiazepamflunitrazepamlorazepammethadonemorphine or opiate and opioid-based drugs, for example codeine, tramadol or fentanyloxazepamtemazepam<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">You can drive after taking these drugs if you\u2019ve been prescribed them and followed advice on how to take them by a healthcare professional or they are not causing you to be unfit to drive even if you\u2019re above the specified limits<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">You could be prosecuted if you drive with certain levels of these drugs in your body and you have not been prescribed them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">If you\u2019re convicted of drug driving you may get a minimum 1 year driving ban, an unlimited fine, up to 6 months in prison and a criminal record.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Your driving licence will also show you\u2019ve been convicted for drug driving. This will last for 11 years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The maximum penalty for causing death by careless driving under the influence of drugs is life imprisonment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GEM head of road safety James Luckhurst stressed that road users on certain medicines could be \u201cunfit to&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":389584,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[49,48,84,377,141532],"class_list":{"0":"post-389583","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-medication","12":"tag-midlands-traffic-and-travel"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=389583"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389583\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/389584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=389583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=389583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=389583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}