title: [Drug use and driving].
abstract: Some drugs are known to impair driving because they can change the vision or hearing, and/or disrupt the intellectual or motor abilities: impaired vigilance, sedation, disinhibition effect, the coordination of movement disorders and the balance. The doctor during prescribing and the pharmacist during deliverance of drug treatment should inform their patients of the potential risks of drugs on driving or operating machinery. The driver has direct responsibility, who hired him and him alone, to follow the medical advice received. The pictograms on the outer packaging of medicinal products intended to classify substances according to their risk driving: The driver can whether to observe simple precautions (level one "be prudent"), or follow the advice of a health professional (level two "be very careful"), or if it is totally not drive (level three "danger caution: do not drive"). This classification only evaluates the intrinsic danger of drugs but not the individual variability. Medicines should be taken into account also the conditions for which the medication is prescribed. It is important to inform the patient on several points.
authors.affiliation: CHU d'Amiens, laboratoire de pharmacologie et toxicologie, centre de biologie humaine, 80054 Amiens, France. Electronic address: Hurtel-Lemaire.Anne-Sophie@chu-amiens.fr.
authors.forename: Anne-Sophie
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Lemaire-Hurtel
authors.affiliation: Faculté de médecine et de pharmacie de Rouen, laboratoire de toxicologie, 76000 Rouen, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Pierre
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Goullé
authors.affiliation: CHU de Garches, laboratoire de pharmacologie et toxicologie, 92380 Garches, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Claude
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Alvarez
authors.affiliation: CHU de Poitiers, laboratoire de pharmacologie et toxicologie, 86021 Poitiers, France.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mura
authors.affiliation: Hôpital universitaire de Gand, laboratoire de biologie clinique, université de Gand département de biologie clinique, microbiologie et immunologie, 9000 Gand, Belgique.
authors.forename: Alain G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Verstraete
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000523:psychology; D001334:Automobile Driving / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000523:psychology; D064420:Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions / Q000145:classification / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007880:Legislation, Drug; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000145:classification; D012890:Sleep / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations