Can you drive a campervan on prescription medication?

As a campervan driver, you'll know that navigating a large vehicle around Britain's road network requires high levels of concentration.

Everyone knows the dangers of driving while they’re under the influence of drink or drugs and the devastating effects this can have not only on you and your passengers but other road users and your vehicle itself.

But what about prescription medication? Perhaps you’ve never considered how your hay fever tablets or anxiety pills might affect your driving ability but in some cases it can. And this could have a knock-on effect on your campervan insurance if you were to make a claim.

In this article we’ll take a closer look at the types of medication that could affect your driving and what you can do to stay safe.

Drug-driving in the UK

Research by the road safety charity Brake reveals that 'drug-driving' (driving while under the influence of drugs) is a factor in more than 1 in 20 fatal crashes in the UK.

Different drugs, unsurprisingly, will have widely varying effects on your safety to drive: the charity has also revealed that drugs increase the risk of a fatal or serious injury crash, by a factor of anything from two (in the case of cannabis) to 30 (amphetamines).

So much for the impact of what might broadly be termed 'recreational' drugs. But what if you’re taking something on prescription, to help with a medical condition or temporary illness? What are the possible effects? And what does the law say about driving on these kinds of drugs?

Read on as we explain the legal and safety issues around medicines and driving.

Medical conditions, driving, and the law

Under UK law, you must tell the Driver Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) if you suffer from certain medical conditions, as they can affect your ability to drive safely. Failure to inform the agency about a medical condition that does affect you in this way can land you a fine of up to £1,000.

On top of this, you are legally obliged to give up your driving licence if:

• your doctor informs you that you must give up driving for three months or more, or
• your medical condition affects your ability to drive safely and lasts for three months or more, or
• your medical condition means that you don't meet the required standards for driving

But how do you know if your condition needs to be reported to the DVLA? It's fairly simple: if you have a car or motorcycle licence, you can either use the online service to check if your condition needs to be reported, or check the Government's online A to Z list for your condition.

After that, you will be given instructions on how to report your illness. This procedure is simple – it will either be done by filling in the online form, or by printing off and sending in a paper equivalent.

Medicines and driving

The advice above ran through how to report certain conditions that may make you unsuitable for driving. However, it may be that, while your condition is deemed safe for driving, the medicines you take for the condition lessen your safety on the road. Here, the law has two more, simple guidelines.

It’s illegal to drive if either:

• you have either legal or illegal drugs in your body, in such a concentration as to render you unfit to drive
• you have certain levels of illegal drugs in your blood. This holds true even if these drugs have not affected your driving

The definition of 'legal drugs' is prescription, or over-the-counter medicines – those medications that you are taking, whether prescribed or picked off the shelf yourself, for certain conditions, pains, discomforts and so on.

If you are taking this sort of medication and you can't say for certain that your driving is unaffected, you should talk to a doctor or pharmacist to get more clarity.

If you are stopped by police and your driving is believed to be impaired by drugs or medicines, the police can require you to carry out a ‘field impairment assessment’ on the spot. This is, essentially, a series of tests designed to measure your coordination and reflexes. You may be asked to walk in a straight line, for instance.

If the officers conclude that you are unfit to drive because of drugs or medicines, you will be arrested and required to go to a police station to take a blood or urine test. If this test brings up evidence of drugs – either illegal, or legal but in large enough amounts to have impaired your driving – you could face a fine and other sanctions.

What are the risks of driving on prescription medication?

So, we've looked at the law around driving while under the influence of drugs or medication. But what is the rationale here? How do these substances diminish your capacity to drive safely?

Well, put simply, driver awareness – the ability to understand, and to react quickly and safely to, the road conditions around you – is a key part of safe driving. That's all the more important when you are driving a large vehicle such as a campervan.

This reality is coupled with the fact that many medicines – both prescription and over the counter – can hinder our ability to drive safely. Drugs, from cold and flu remedies to antidepressants, can have a range of effects, all likely to impair your driving.

Drugs like these can easily cause drowsiness and make your reaction times slower; they can also make you less able to judge time, distance and speed quickly and accurately. They may decrease your coordination and/or concentration; they may even impair your vision.

It's also worth noting that any of these unfortunate side-effects may be intensified by combining the pills with alcohol, or by taking more than one type of medication simultaneously.

For any medication you are taking, you should thoroughly research any possible side-effects like these. All medicines should carry printed warnings about side-effects – but these can often be in very small print, and in many different translations, making it quite tricky to find the relevant advice in the right language.

Then, when you do find any warnings, these can be quite vague, and not relate specifically to the product's effects on driving.

By the way, while we're discussing risks that you should be aware of as a campervan owner, you may want to have a read of our related feature, Common risks for campervan drivers you didn't suspect.

Prescription medicines: legal limits

On some occasions it will be down to your own judgement (and, in the event of a 'field impairment assessment’, the judgement of a police officer) to decide whether the prescription medications you have taken have impaired your ability to drive safely.

However, in other cases the law is quite clear about exactly how much of a certain medicine is, legally, too much to drive with.

Here are some common prescription medicines, along with the maximum amount of each medicine that you may legally have in your bloodstream before getting behind the wheel.

You'll see that these medications have widely differing limits, according to their potential risk for drivers. And once again, the Government specifies that, for each of these medicines, you should get medical advice on whether you should drive after taking them.

We should emphasise that you should always err on the side of caution if you are uncertain about your ability to be safe on the road. If you are in any doubt, don’t attempt to drive your campervan.

Here are the prescription drugs, and the maximum amounts permitted in your bloodstream when driving.

• Flunitrazepam
  This drug is sometimes used to treat chronic insomnia. The maximum permitted bloodstream concentration is 300 micrograms per litre, or 300µg/L. There are a thousand micrograms in a milligram, so we are talking about tiny amounts here.
• Clonazepam
  This drug helps to control epileptic seizures. Maximum permitted dose: 50 µg/L.
• Methadone
  Methadone is used in both the treatment for opioid addiction, and for chronic pain management: 500µg/L.
• Diazepam
  This is used in the treatment of muscle spasms, fits, and anxiety: 550µg/L.
• Temazepam
  This drug is usually taken for insomnia: 1000µg/L.
• Amphetamine
  Amphetamines like dexamphetamine are sometimes prescribed to people suffering from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. Permitted dose: 250µg/L.
• Lorazepam
  This medication is used to help with the nausea and vomiting that frequently arise after chemotherapy. It's also prescribed to treat anxiety and some sleeping disorders. Permitted dose: 100µg/L.
• Morphineand opioid-based drugs such as codeine, tramadol, or fentanyl: 80µg/L.
• Oxazepam
  This drug is used to treat insomnia and anxiety, as well as during alcohol withdrawal: 300µg/L.

Note that you can still drive after taking these drugs if you have been prescribed them, and if you are following the advice (from a healthcare professional) on safe dosage. In fact, you may still be permitted to drive with higher concentrations than those above, if the police conclude that the medications haven't interfered with your safe driving.

Just be aware of the possibility of that ‘field impairment assessment’ at the side of the road. Again, if you’re not sure about your ability to drive safely, don’t attempt to drive. Any campervan insurance claim you try to make might be refused if you were unfit to drive because of prescription medication.

Drug driving: legal sanctions

What will happen to you if you have been driving with unsafe levels of medication?
Drug driving is potentially fatal, both for you and other road users, so the penalties imposed are severe. Drivers convicted of the offence are likely to receive a minimum 12-month driving ban and an unlimited fine. On top of this, you may be liable for up to six months in prison. Finally, your licence will show the conviction for drug driving for no fewer than 11 years after the offence, which may impact your ability to get employment especially in a driving role.
Meanwhile, if the very worst happens and you cause death by dangerous driving after taking drugs or medicines in excessive amounts, you can expect a prison sentence of anything up to 14 years.

Another consequence to be aware of is that you may struggle to find insurance for your camper after a drug-driving conviction – or those policies that you do track down are likely to be expensive.

You may also find it harder to travel abroad to certain countries, such as the USA. That's something to bear in mind if you like to take your campervan on exciting adventures overseas.

Thanks to overseas cover on many campervan insurance policies, you may not have previously given this a second thought: but you may now find that those dreams of a Pan-American road trip have been shattered by one careless decision.

Campervan insurance: a key part of the safe driver's toolbox

As we've seen in this article, it's so important to follow the laws when it comes to driving on prescription drugs. Making a considered decision on whether your current medication allows you to drive safely could be the difference between life and death. This is one of those essential parts of being a responsible campervan driver – much like sorting the right campervan insurance for you and your vehicle.

If you arrange cover through our specialist team here at Lancaster, you could benefit from a range of benefits including:

• Windscreen cover
• Personal effects cover up to £6,000
• Motorhome club member discounts
• Gas bottles and awning cover
• Optional breakdown cover from £49.95

You can find a more detailed explanation of what's covered in our campervan insurance packages, in this article elsewhere in our blog: 10 things you need to know about campervan insurance.

Call us today to arrange some protection for your campervan – and make sure that both you and your vehicle are safe to travel.

Policy benefits, features and discounts offered may very between insurance schemes or cover selected and are subject to underwriting criteria. Information contained within this article is accurate at the time of publishing but may be subject to change.