{"id":160937,"date":"2025-11-30T09:00:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-30T09:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/160937\/"},"modified":"2025-11-30T09:00:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-30T09:00:07","slug":"drivers-on-3-types-of-medication-could-be-told-to-stop-driving-by-dvla","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/160937\/","title":{"rendered":"Drivers on 3 types of medication could be told to ‘stop driving’ by DVLA"},"content":{"rendered":"

Drivers taking three types of medication<\/a> may need to \u201cavoid driving\u201d as part of a DVLA<\/a> crackdown, according to a leading motoring expert.\u00a0Greg Wilson, founder of Quotezone.co.uk, has warned that those on \u201cstrong medications\u201d may not be allowed behind the wheel due to fear of drowsiness.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In particular, Greg suggested that those taking opioid painkillers, tranquillisers and antidepressant tablets could be the most at risk. It is likely that those taking these medicines will be\u00a0advised not to drive<\/a>, with road users potentially\u00a0at risk on the roads.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Greg explained: \u201cIf you are on strong medications, it is likely that you will be recommended to avoid driving.\u00a0Opioid painkillers, tranquillisers, and certain antidepressants are examples of medicines that can affect driving ability \u2013 as well as those that cause drowsiness or say \u2018do not operate heavy machinery\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

The NHS<\/a> previously explained that stricter rules around prescription drug driving were brought into effect in March 2015. Medications included in the rule include opioid painkillers such as morphine and methadone.<\/p>\n

The NHS said those taking \u2018Benzodiazepines\u2019 such as diazepam, lorazepam, clonazepam, temazepam, oxazepam, and flunitrazepam may also be affected. Likewise, those taking Ketamine or Amphetamines, such as methylphenidate, could also be caught out.<\/p>\n

The new rules may also include other \u2018opioid\u2019 medications such as oxycodone and fentanyl<\/a>. The Government has previously warned motorists could be prosecuted if they drive with certain levels of these drugs in their bodies and they have not been prescribed them.<\/p>\n

The NHS<\/a> said road users should never decide to drive if they feel their ability is likely to be impaired in some way.\u00a0<\/a>This could be through experiencing sleepiness, dizziness, poor coordination, visual problems or even slowed and impaired thinking or confusion.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Greg added: \u201cMany conditions and medications won\u2019t impair driving, which the DVLA and insurance providers recognise \u2013 but they do need to be kept up to date with any changes.<\/p>\n

\u201cTaking all precautions to be safe on the road is extremely important and drivers must play their part to ensure their wellbeing and the wellbeing of other road users is protected to the best of their knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Drivers taking three types of medication may need to \u201cavoid driving\u201d as part of a DVLA crackdown, according…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":160938,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[105895,105896,105892,105898,105894,105897,105893,1757,105890,105891,105899,105900,134,524,111,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-160937","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-driving-antidepressants","9":"tag-driving-on-drugs","10":"tag-driving-on-medication","11":"tag-driving-opioids","12":"tag-driving-painkillers","13":"tag-drug-cars","14":"tag-drug-driving","15":"tag-drugs","16":"tag-dvla","17":"tag-dvla-driving-rule","18":"tag-dvla-drugs","19":"tag-dvla-medication","20":"tag-health","21":"tag-medication","22":"tag-new-zealand","23":"tag-newzealand","24":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160937","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=160937"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160937\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/160938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}