Tennessee residents rely on prescription and over-the-counter medication on many occasions. But did you know some of these medicines have the potential to alter your state of mind?
Today we will look into this matter. We will examine how these drugs change how a driver perceives things. From there, we will see the dangerous actions that lead to DUI related charges.
Drowsiness in common medications
A drug-related DUI often hinges on the impairment of the driver. Most of the time, the spotlight falls on illegal drugs. But prescription and even over-the-counter drugs have the same potential to affect you.
For example, let us look at common cough, cold and allergy medications. In most pharmacies, you can buy these medicines without a prescription. But in many of them, key ingredients cause drowsiness. Other impairments in concentration also occur. The medications come with warnings not to operate heavy machinery. In this case, it includes cars in the category of heavy machinery.
A prescription’s impact on your ability to drive
Different prescription medications also have similar effects. If a drug you take may impact your ability to drive, you will find similar warnings on it. The label on the pill bottle warns drivers not to drive. The paper with information about the drug often says so as well.
This is because drowsiness have negative impacts on drivers. So do other forms of “brain fog” or distraction. If you cannot focus or stay awake, you cannot drive in a safe way.
Do you want to learn more about prescription drugs and their ties to DUI charges? Are you curious about the dangers drivers on prescription drugs may cause? If so, take a look at our linked webpage here for more information.