medications and drowsy driving Tag Archives

Published on: April 14, 2025

Your Medications Could Increase Your Car Accident Risks

The medications that you are currently taking could increase your risks of being involved in an auto accident. Since car accidents are a major cause of severe personal injuries, it is important to evaluate the medications you are taking to determine if they increase your risk of an accident. If so, you may wish to adjust your driving habits to reduce the risk of being in an accident and suffering injuries.

Most medications come with little or no drowsy driving risks. Many of them, however, do include risks that can affect a persons’ driving abilities, and patients may remain unaware of the dangers of using these medications, especially when they operate a motor vehicle. Some medications are widely known to have drowsiness- inducing properties. For instance, anti-allergy medications or those that are used to treat common colds and coughs may come with ingredients that increase a person’s sleepiness and make him feel lethargic. A person using these drugs is much more likely to cause an accident if he is driving a vehicle while under the influence of the drug. Medications that include codeine and hydrocodone, for example, are strongly linked with drowsiness and fatigue.

Apart from cold medications and antihistamines, many Americans now take a wide range of medications to treat a variety of conditions. There has been an explosion in lifestyle conditions, and millions of Americans now take beta blockers to treat heart disease and cardiovascular conditions. Beta blockers can cause symptoms like giddiness, dizziness and extreme tiredness that could prove dangerous when the person is behind the wheel. Anti-anxiety medications, antipsychotic drugs as well as anti-depressants are also strongly linked to drowsiness.

Published on: November 24, 2023

Drowsy Driving Linked to 100,000 Car Accidents Every Year

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Motorists driving while fatigued or sleepy cause as many as 100,000 car accidents every year. This November, the National Sleep Foundation is marking Drowsy Driving Prevention Week to raise awareness about the dangers of driving while sleepy.

The National Sleep Foundation commemorates the first week of November every year as Drowsy Driving Prevention Week to coincide with the end of daylight savings time. The National Sleep Foundation estimates that as many as 100,000 car accidents every year are caused by drivers who are too sleepy or fatigued to drive. According to the National Sleep Foundation, more than half of all American motorists admit to regularly or consistently driving while sleepy. About 20% of American drivers admit to having operated a motor vehicle while sleepy at least once in the past year. Clearly, there are far too many people who feel comfortable driving a car when they are simply too tired or sleepy to do so.

Some categories of motorists may be at a greater risk of drowsy driving than others. For example, motorists between the age of 16 and 25 are at a higher risk of driving while sleepy. Male motorists may also be much more likely to find nothing wrong while driving in a sleepy condition compared to female drivers. Shift workers and commercial drivers like long haul truck drivers may also be at higher risk of not getting enough sleep resulting in drowsy driving. Apart from these business travelers as well as persons suffering from medical conditions like sleep apnea are also at a higher risk. Apnea is a sleep condition that causes a person to suffer from respiratory interruptions during sleep at night which causes the person to be fatigued and sleepy in the daytime. Sometimes, drowsy driving is the result of taking medications like anti -depressants and antihistamines that may have sleepiness as a side effect.

Published on: June 26, 2011

Drugged Driving Linked to 25% of Wrongful Death Accidents

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Yet another study indicates increased car accident risks when people are driving under the influence of drugs.A new study that has just been published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs has found that a quarter of about 44,000 American drivers, who were involved in fatal accidents between 1998 and 2009, had drugs in their system at the time of the accident.

The researchers analyzed data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System.They found that in approximately a quarter of the fatal accidents during this period of time, the motorist tested positive for drugs, while 37% had blood-alcohol levels greater than the .08% legally allowed limit.The most common drugs that were involved in fatal accidents were amphetamines, marijuana and cocaine. One of the first thing Car accident attorneys look for in any wrongful death accident is the involvement of drugs or alcohol.

Certain drugs seem to be linked to certain kinds of reckless driving practices.For instance, stimulants were linked to most wrongful death accidents, especially those that involve speeding, inattention, and failure to obey traffic laws.Stimulants were also linked to accidents in which occupants were not wearing seat belts.On the other hand, marijuana was most often linked to failure to wear seatbelts, and driving at excessive speeds.

Published on: July 21, 2008

Truck Accidents Caused by Medically Impaired Drivers

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

If you have been involved in an accident or crash with a tractor-trailer or a bus, the statistics reveal the driver may have been medically impaired.The Associated Press reported today that it obtained an advance copy of a Government Accounting Office report showing that over 500,0000 of the country’s commercial truck drivers also qualify for full federal medical disability payments.Over a thousand drivers had vision, hearing and seizure disorders.

As far back as 2001, safety regulators advised the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the government office responsible for regulating commercial truck and bus drivers, that reforms must be undertaken to insure that those carrying commercial drivers licenses are medically fit to drive.

In 2006, the federal Transportation Department issued 7.3 million commercial driving citations for violating federal medical rules.Twelve states, one of which was Georgia, accounted for over half of the violations.