The Surprising Effects of Medication on Driving

The Surprising Effects of Medication on Driving:
Prescription and Over-the-Counter Drugs can Interfere with your Driving Ability.

Safe driving requires concentration, alertness, and the ability to react in a coordinated and timely fashion to outside stimulation. Drivers have to do several things at the same time and respond quickly to unexpected conditions on the road. Prescription and over-the-counter drugs, unfortunately, can interfere with a number of those processes and make it difficult for drivers to focus completely. In many cases, medications can reduce driving ability. Depending on state laws, you can be charged with a DUI if you’re caught driving hazardously while you’re taking prescription or over the counter medications—even if your doctor wrote the prescription.

Understanding the potential effects of medication is particularly important for older adults, cautions speeding violations attorney Zev Goldstein. As we age, our bodies slow down. It takes longer for medications to wear off even after they’re no longer being taken regularly. If you’re going to take medications and drive, there are several things you need to know.

Potential Effects of Medication on Driving

Medications can cause a variety of side effects, and those side effects can cause issues behind the wheel. Pay attention to the side effects listed on medication bottles, especially if they include sleepiness, blurred vision, or dizziness, all of which can have a serious negative impact on your driving. Also consider such problems as slowed movement, which could reduce your ability to react in time to a negative situation, nausea, which could distract you from driving, or fainting, which could cause a dangerous situation when you’re behind the wheel. Also take note of medications that interfere with your ability to focus or pay attention, which could prevent you from maintaining the concentration necessary to drive safely.

Medications You Should Never Take When Driving

There are several medications that you should never take if you’re planning to get behind the wheel of a car, especially if you haven’t taken them recently and don’t know how they affect you. These include pain relievers, antihistamines, antidepressants, antihypertensives, antianxiety agents, and stimulants, all of which can cause a variety of the symptoms that may negatively impact driving ability or behavior behind the wheel of a car.

Medication Tips: Driving Safely While Taking Medications

All medications are potentially dangerous. Start out with the assumption that any medication that can impact your body also has the ability to impact driving behavior. This is particularly true if you mix medications: taking more than one at a time can cause increased side effects or unanticipated effects that make it more difficult for you to drive safely. Even if you’ve been taken a medication for a long time, changing the dose time can change how it impacts your driving behavior later: for example, taking a medication that you ordinarily take before bedtime in the middle of the day can cause a change in the way it impacts your driving.

Any time you’re prescribed a new medication, you must see how you react to that medication before attempting to drive. Always check for potentially harmful side effects before getting behind the wheel. You should also pay attention to the medication’s expiration date. Keep in mind that alcohol can cause a change in the effects of the medication; whenever possible, avoid drinking alcohol and driving while on medication. Carry a list of your medications with you so that if an accident does occur, someone will know what you took. While you should always check to see if the medications you’re taking could impact your driving ability for yourself, it’s also important to be sure that your doctor knows every medication you’re taking, including over the counter medications, vitamins, and supplements.

Feeling drowsy or dizzy before driving isn’t the only thing that should stop you from getting behind the wheel. If you have symptoms of increased anxiety, worry that you might faint, or are having trouble paying attention or remaining focused, avoid getting behind the wheel until those symptoms have passed. If you can’t get the side effects under control and it’s necessary for you to be behind the wheel, have a conversation with your doctor. Appropriately spacing out your blood pressure medication, for example, can increase your odds of being able to drive safely.

Medications are a concern at any age, but they’re especially dangerous for senior drivers. The side effects from some medications become gradually more pronounced with age, going from minor side effects that you barely notice to serious problems that cause severe issues with driving ability. Always talk with your physician and pharmacist about the potential side effects of a new medication, especially before getting behind the wheel of a car.

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Thank You to Our Guest Blog Writer:

Fay Niselbaum
Content Writer and Blogger

BLOG Date: Thursday, July 28, 2016