If you are looking for how to maintain safe driving practices, keeping an eye on your medicine cabinet may be a good place to start. Many people need some kind of medication to handle a health problem. Unfortunately, one or more kinds of medicine may impair your driving and could lead to a serious accident.
According to the AAA, older drivers in particular struggle with driving problems because they take more medicine than younger drivers. Some medicines like antihistamines and antidepressants cause drowsiness and slow down your reflexes and responses. If you require regular doses of medicine, consider some steps that may make you more aware of the effects of medicine on your driving.
Ask questions of your health provider
Be sure that you understand why you need the medicine your doctor prescribes to you. If you are not sure what to ask, write a list of questions before you visit your doctor. The AAA suggests you ask questions about how medicine will affect your driving. This may be especially important if you take more than one kind of medicine. Additionally, consider asking your pharmacist about your medicine.
Write down your medications
Make sure your doctor knows every medication that you take. Write down a list of your medicines, including over-the-counter medicines from your pharmacy. You can also include any vitamins or supplements you take daily. This should give your doctor a complete picture of the kinds of substances you ingest daily.
Talk about alternatives
It is possible that you do not need the exact kind of medicine you are currently taking. Ask your doctor about any alternative medicine you could have that will not affect your driving. Your health care provider might also recommend changing the dosage or the schedule of your dosage so they occur after you drive.
Taking medicine should not lead to a bad outcome. The right precautions may not guarantee that you will avoid an accident, but you might stand a good chance of not causing one yourself. Also, if an irresponsible driver does hit you, it is unlikely the other driver can blame you for the crash.
