The medication warnings should not be avoided
The rules around driving while medicated are vital to road safety(Image: Derby Telegraph)
Drivers taking nine types of medication have been warned they may be “unfit to drive.” GEM’s head of road safety, James Luckhurst, emphasised that road users on certain medications could pose a “major safety risk.”
James said: “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.
“If you feel unwell, or if any medication you take carries a drowsiness or ‘may affect driving’ warning, our advice is simple: do not drive. Arrange alternative transport while you recover, or ask your doctor or pharmacist if there’s a non-drowsy alternative.”
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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.
If you have been prescribed any of the following drugs, consult your doctor to discuss whether it is safe for you to drive:
amphetamine, for example, dextroamphetamine or selegilineclonazepamdiazepamflunitrazepamlorazepammethadonemorphine or opiate and opioid-based drugs, for example, codeine, tramadol or fentanyloxazepamtemazepam
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.
However, if you drive with certain levels of drugs in your system that have not been prescribed to you, you could face prosecution.
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.
The maximum penalty for causing death by careless driving while under the influence of drugs is life imprisonment.
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