Prescription medications may impair motorists

A PUBLIC awareness campaign to warn motorists of the dangers of driving when taking certain medications has been launched by the Road Safety Authority (RSA) and the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland (PSI).

Noel Brett, chief executive of the RSA, told a conference on medicine and road safety in Dublin yesterday that patients should check with their doctor or pharmacist if it is safe to drive while on particular medications.

Prescription and non-prescription medicines can impair a motorist mainly because they can make them drowsy or reduce concentration levels.

The RSA believes that up to 20 per cent of road deaths are caused by fatigue, and they have expressed concern that certain medicines may be contributing to this.

Prof Han de Gier of the University of Groningen, in the Netherlands, told the conference that the risk of a crash doubled for patients on certain medicines and was similar to having 80mgs of alcohol in the blood.

He identified benzodiazepines, a class of psycho-active drug used to treat anxiety, stress and muscle spasms, as the most likely to impair driving.

Among the commonly prescribed benzodiazepines are: Diazepam (Valium) to treat anxiety disorders and alcohol withdrawal; Flurazepam (Dalmane) a short-term insomnia treatment and Lorazepam (Ativan) which is often prescribed for anxiety.

The RSA concluded a public consultation on its review of the fitness-to-drive rules last month.

Among the proposals under consideration is a legal requirement for doctors to inform licencing authorities of an illness or condition that could impair their patient's ability to drive.

While this is a legal requirement in New Zealand and a number of Australian states, it may be considered a controversial move here, as it could be seen as impinging on doctor-patient confidentiality.

Any changes in the fitness-to-drive rules are likely to focus on the 245,000 or so drivers required to obtain a medical certificate before securing a drivers licence.