{"id":637368,"date":"2025-12-17T04:14:17","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T04:14:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/637368\/"},"modified":"2025-12-17T04:14:17","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T04:14:17","slug":"motorists-taking-1-type-of-medication-issued-urgent-do-not-drive-warning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/637368\/","title":{"rendered":"Motorists taking 1 type of medication issued urgent \u2018do not drive\u2019 warning"},"content":{"rendered":"

Drivers taking one type of medication<\/a> have been told to \u201cnot drive\u201d this December in an urgent warning to motorists ahead of Christmas.\u00a0GEM head of road safety James Luckhurst stressed that road users on certain medicines could be \u201cunfit to drive\u201d in a major safety risk.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Certain pills and medicines can make motorists drowsy, tired and unaware of their surroundings, posing a major safety risk. Getting behind the wheel while under the influence is a major concern, with motorists putting themselves and others at risk. Motorists could be\u00a0at greater risk in 2025\u00a0as a new, potentially more severe flu strain <\/a>takes hold<\/a>, with hospital numbers surging across the UK.<\/p>\n

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 \u2018may affect driving\u2019 warning, our advice is simple: do not drive. Arrange alternative transport while you recover, or ask your doctor or pharmacist if there\u2019s a non-drowsy alternative.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to\u00a0GEM Motoring Assist<\/a>, over-the-counter cold and flu treatments and prescription painkillers\u00a0are all major risks.<\/a>\u00a0They explained that motorists should first check the label, carefully inspecting the packaging for warnings about drowsiness or impaired alertness.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Next, road users should ask a professional or speak with a pharmacist or GP about safer alternatives if they need to drive. Drivers should also assess how they feel, and always avoid driving altogether if they feel light-headed or tired.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Motorists should also plan ahead and, if possible, arrange alternative transportation. GEM Motoring Assist also warns that driving while under certain medications could be treated in the same way as driving under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

GOV.<\/a>UK<\/a> has said motorists should talk to their doctor before taking amphetamines, clonazepam, diazepam, or flunitrazepam.<\/p>\n

Those on lorazepam, methadone, morphine, oxazepam and temazepam should also speak to a medical professional before getting behind the wheel.\u00a0<\/p>\n

GOV.UK explained: \u201cIt\u2019s illegal in England, Scotland and Wales to drive with legal drugs in your body if it impairs your driving. It\u2019s an offence to drive if you have over the specified limits of certain drugs in your blood and you have not been prescribed them.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Drivers taking one type of medication have been told to \u201cnot drive\u201d this December in an urgent warning…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":637369,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4315],"tags":[19599,196497,189082,196496,196500,196499,59495,196498,535,105,4326,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-637368","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-cars-section","9":"tag-driving-medication","10":"tag-driving-on-medication","11":"tag-driving-on-medicines","12":"tag-driving-prescription-drugs","13":"tag-driving-prescription-medicines","14":"tag-drug-driving","15":"tag-drug-driving-uk","16":"tag-drugs","17":"tag-health","18":"tag-medication","19":"tag-uk","20":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115732969254983302","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/637368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=637368"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/637368\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/637369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=637368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=637368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=637368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}