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Prescription drugs and driving

Driving while impaired is incredibly dangerous. When a driver does this, they put their own safety in jeopardy and pose a major safety risk to others. And alcohol is far from the only substance that can impair a driver. Certain prescription medications can have this affect as well. So, it can be very important for individuals who are taking prescription drugs to be aware of whether any of their medications could affect their ability to drive safely.

However, a recent study indicates that individuals not having such awareness could be quite common in the United States.

The study looked at data from a survey. As part of the survey, U.S. drivers were polled on prescription drugs at various sites throughout the country. Of the polled drivers, almost 20 percent reported having recently taken a prescription drug which can affect driving ability. However, a fair number of these individuals did not report having been made aware of the driving-impairing potential of the medication. Likelihood of reporting having been warned about the driving-impairing ability of a drug varied among the different medication types.

As a note, the study did not look into whether drivers not reporting having received a warning regarding a potentially impairing medicine they took came from them actually having never received a warning or them simplify not remembering getting such a warning.

Why do you think a lack of awareness about the driving-affecting abilities of prescription drugs they take might be so common among U.S. drivers? What do you think are the best ways to make it less common? How big of an affect do you think increasing awareness levels on this topic would have on the overall safety of U.S. roads?

The actions of an impaired driver, whether the impairment came from alcohol or some other source (such as prescription drugs) can have life-changing impacts on others. When a person suffers significant injuries in a crash caused by an impaired driver, there can be a range of complicated and impactful legal issues for them to navigate in the quest for justice and fair compensation. Such an individual may want a skilled and knowledgeable personal injury lawyer’s help with tackling such issues.

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