Are you fit to drive?

The question is are you fit enough to drive? This question can be based on physical attributes, health and well-being. 

Lets Start with Medical COnditions

HOW DO MEDICAL CONDITIONS, DRUGS OR ALCOHOL IMPEDE ON DRIVING?

Driving a car involves quite a complex and rapidly repeating cycle of movements for the body and mind including thoughts that requires a certain level of knowledge, skill and the ability to interact simultaneously with both the vehicle they are driving and the external environment, conditions and other external inputs that may affect the vehicle.

Information about the environment is via the visual and auditory senses of the driver and is operated on by many cognitive processes (including short- and long-term memory, experience and judgement) to affect the decision making for the driving hazards or potential driving hazards in real time. The decisions of the driver are enacted by the musculoskeletal system through the nervous system, which acts on the controls of the vehicle and its relation to the road and other road users.

The total process of driving is coordinated by many complex interactions involving driver behaviour, strategic and tactical abilities, and driver personality and experience. In the face of illness or disability, adaptive strategies are very important for maintaining a safe driving environment. This is very true in the case of cognitive impairments such as dementia.

Safe driving requires the involvement of the following from the driver:

• vision - eyes
• visuospatial perception
• hearing - sound - ears
• attention and concentration
• memory - experience and recollections
• insight and understanding
• judgement
• adaptive strategies
• good reaction time - physical well being
• planning and organisation
• ability to self-monitor
• sensation - which may be obscured by medication, drugs or alcohol
• muscle power and control - which can reduce over time
• coordination - which is weakened by drugs, alcohol, health and age

Given these many requirements, it follows that many body systems in a driver need to be functional for safe driving – and fitness, injury or disease may affect any one or more of these abilities that enable basic and safe driving.

This includes impairment from alcohol or drugs, illness and well-being. In fact, age and fitness can also impede one's ability to drive safely. 

Tiredness Kills

Driving for long periods of time reduces your alert levels and makes you complacent. Falling asleep at the wheel is obviously a major issue if you are driving. But very seldom do people put together a bad night's sleep, a busy week at the office or overcoming a cold or other illness as reasons that they may end up in a road accident whilst driving.

​At Pass Mee driving school we would always recommend taking at least a 10-minute break for every hour  you are driving.

If you are driving long distances make sure you have plenty of fluids as this will help with concentration levels and also ensure you take regular toilet breaks.

​If you have not driven for a while or have any underlying health condition or have recently been ill, we would recommend you halve this and take a break very 30 mins or less.

Accessing Fitness to Drive