Drink Driving

The Scottish Government is proposing to lower the prescribed alcohol limit from 80 milligrammes per 100 millilitres of blood to 50; the equivlant of approximately one pint of average strength beer. I totally agree that driving while impaired must be discouraged. The best policy is to have nothing alcoholic to drink before one drives. That said, what about all those people who are drug-driving? I'm not only talking about those people who are using controlled drugs many prescription medications for pain relief, anti-depression and allergies; even over the counter cold and 'flu remedies; have a profound effect on a driver's abilities. A study in the U.S. found that 15% of people who use diphenhydramine, the most common ingredient in over-the-counter antihistamines, found in medicines for the relief from hayfever etc, are likely to crash. I spoke to one of Scotland's top pharmacists recently who told me they'd much prefer to be a passenger in a car driven by a young person who'd consumed, say, three pints of beer and was therefore over the current (according to the Scottish Government) 'high' prescribed limit, than by someone over fifty years of age who was on any one of a number of commonly used medicines. While there is an offence of being unfit to drive through drink or drugs, there is no chemical test applied for fitness to drive, only a physical examination by police officers and/or a doctor, and tests such as walking along a line with arms out from the sides. The problem with these types of crude assessments is that the 'zoning-out' effect that many medicines cause are fleeting and a driver can feel and look all right but be a serious risk on the road, especially if elderly or if driving at night. It might benefit all road users more if the Government would carry out some research into how many crashes are caused by people who have been drug-driving. The compilation and publication of a list of drugs that one should avoid if intending to drive would also be helpful. Given that there are nearly 3 million people in the UK in receipt of incapacity benefit, many of whom have cars courtesy of the mobility scheme, how many are routinely, and probably unknowingly, driving while impaired by prescription medication? Drink driving is a scourge but why are we concentrating on catching the young man who has one pint after work and not doing something about the sick and elderly people who,bloodstreams coursing with medications drive around the streets of our land with impunity?