Suggestions for Improvement

1. I signal and check to the rear when I change lanes.
   
2. I wear a seat belt.
   
3. I try to stay informed of changes in driving and highway regulations.
   
4. Intersections bother me: there is too much to watch for from all directions.
   
5. I find it difficult to decide when to join traffic on a busy highway.
   
6. I think I am slower than I used to be in reacting to dangerous driving situations.
   
7. When I am really upset, I show it in my driving.
   
8. My thoughts wander when I am driving.
   
9. Traffic situations make me angry.
   
10. I get regular eye checks to keep my vision at its sharpest.
    
11. I check with my doctor or pharmacist about the effects of my medications on my driving ability.
    
12. I try to stay abreast of current information on health practices and habits.
    
13. My children, other family members or friends are concerned about my driving ability.
    
14. How many traffic tickets, warnings, or discussions with officers have you had in the past two years?

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11. I check with my doctor or pharmacist about the effects of my medications on my driving ability.

The only acceptable answer is "Always."

While you might be wary of the effects of prescription drugs, even over-the-counter drugs can reduce driving ability.

The drugs that slow you down generally also reduce your capacity to make decisions and process information rapidly. Tranquilizers or cold remedies, such as cold tablets, cough syrup, and sleeping pills, can reduce driving ability.

Combinations of drugs present another danger, because they can bring on unexpected side effects and bad reactions. If you have more than one doctor prescribing medications without knowing what the others are prescribing, you could be in danger.

Another drug, which you may not think of as a drug, with this same effect is alcohol. Alcohol has a powerful impact on our total system, physical and psychological. Alcohol is probably the single most important human factor in fatal collisions for drivers over 65.

It is important to avoid alcoholic beverages when taking other medications. With few exceptions, combining alcohol and other drugs significantly multiplies the impairment of your driving skills. Even worse, they make a potent additive that in extreme cases can cause coma or death.

The only safe practice is to avoid alcohol completely if there is any chance that you will have to drive. Tolerance for alcohol decreases steadily with age. Older people are also less efficient at ridding their systems of alcohol. Food, mood, fatigue, medication, general health, weight, and size of body can all make a difference in predicting overall effect.

Remember the penalties of drinking and driving: heavy fines, jail sentences, and suspension of licence.

Ensure that the combination of your medications do not impair your driving skills. Ask your doctor what the side effects of a prescribed medication might be and what, if anything, you can do to counter them, particularly as they apply to driving.

If you have more than one doctor prescribing medications, make sure all of them know about all the drugs you are taking, both prescribed and over-the counter. Bring all your medicines with you when you go to the doctor. Read all labels and instructions on prescriptions and over-the-counter drugs to determine side effects and their relationship to whether you should drive. If a medication you’re taking is labeled "Do not use while operating heavy machinery" let someone else drive.

If any medication makes you feel sleepy or disoriented, don’t drive.

Remember that combinations of medicines can magnify their effects beyond the individual warnings. Ask your pharmacist to look for dangerous drug interactions.

Convince yourself that the only safe action is not to drink alcoholic beverages at all if you intend to drive and to refuse to ride with anyone who has been drinking.

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