{"id":390965,"date":"2026-01-06T04:13:05","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T04:13:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/390965\/"},"modified":"2026-01-06T04:13:05","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T04:13:05","slug":"uk-drivers-on-nine-types-of-medication-warned-they-may-not-be-able-to-drive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/390965\/","title":{"rendered":"UK drivers on nine types of medication warned they may not be able to drive"},"content":{"rendered":"

The medication warnings should not be avoided\"CarsThe rules around driving while medicated are vital to road safety(Image: Derby Telegraph)<\/p>\n

Drivers taking nine types of medication have been warned<\/a> they may be “unfit to drive.” GEM’s head of road safety, James Luckhurst, emphasised that road users on certain medications could pose a \u201cmajor safety risk.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

James said: “Some medicines can make you drowsy and therefore unfit to drive. If you ignore the warnings, you could be breaking the law<\/a> as well as putting yourself and others at increased risk of a collision.<\/p>\n

“If you feel unwell, or if any medication you take carries a drowsiness<\/a> 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

Our ChronicleLive Daily newsletter is free. You can sign up to receive it here<\/a>. It will keep you up to date with all the latest breaking news and top stories from the North East.<\/p>\n

It is illegal to drive in England, Scotland, and Wales if legal drugs impair your ability to drive. You can be charged with an offence if you have a concentration of certain drugs in your blood that exceeds legal limits and you do not have a prescription for them.<\/p>\n

If you have been prescribed any of the following drugs, consult your doctor to discuss whether it is safe for you to drive:<\/p>\n

amphetamine, for example, dextroamphetamine or selegilineclonazepamdiazepamflunitrazepamlorazepammethadonemorphine or opiate and opioid-based drugs, for example, codeine, tramadol or fentanyloxazepamtemazepam<\/p>\n

You can drive after taking certain prescribed medications if you have followed the advice given by a healthcare professional and the medication does not impair your ability to drive, even if you are above the specified limits.<\/p>\n

However, if you drive with certain levels of drugs in your system that have not been prescribed to you, you could face prosecution.<\/p>\n

If you are convicted of drug driving, you may face a minimum one-year driving ban, an unlimited fine, up to six months in prison, and a criminal record. Additionally, your driving license will indicate that you have been convicted of drug driving, and this record will last for 11 years.<\/p>\n

The maximum penalty for causing death by careless driving while under the influence of drugs is life imprisonment.<\/p>\n

ChronicleLive has created a dedicated WhatsApp community for breaking news and our biggest stories. You can join this WhatsApp community here<\/a>. It will keep you up-to-date with news as it breaks and our top stories of the day sent directly to your phone<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The medication warnings should not be avoidedThe rules around driving while medicated are vital to road safety(Image: Derby…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":390966,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[49,48,2821,84,377,18965],"class_list":{"0":"post-390965","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-driving-law","11":"tag-health","12":"tag-medication","13":"tag-motors"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390965","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=390965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390965\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/390966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=390965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=390965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=390965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}