Road_to_Solo_driving_handbook (2)

Rules and responsibilities
76
Combining even small amounts of
cannabis and alcohol causes much
greater impairment than either one
on its own.
Driving with drugs in your blood or
saliva is an offence. Anyone who is
convicted of a drug driving offence will
have a licence ban and must complete
a Behaviour Change Program before
being relicensed.
Conditions that affect safe driving
Legally, if you are suffering from any
serious (permanent or long-term) illness,
disability, medical condition or injury
(or the effect of treatment for any of
those things) that may impair your ability
to drive safely, you must:
• contact VicRoads to report your
condition
• talk to a doctor about how it might
affect your driving.
Reporting a medically unfit driver
If you are genuinely concerned about
someone’s ability to drive safely, write
us a letter with their details (e.g. name,
address) and the reasons for your
concern. Under Victorian law, we must
investigate this information.
Medicines
Many prescription medicines and some
medicines bought over the counter from
a pharmacist can impair your driving
ability and increase the risk of crashes
by affecting your:
• mood
• concentration
• co-ordination
• reaction time.
Examples of prescription medications
that can affect driving are:
• sleeping tablets
• muscle relaxants
• sedatives
• some antihistamines (such as in
hay fever or cold and flu medicines)
• some strong painkillers.
Not everyone will experience the effects
of a drug in the same way. When you
start using a new medicine, it is best
to ask your doctor or pharmacist for
advice on how it may affect your driving.
You can reduce the risk of a crash when
on medication by:
• not using alcohol with your
medicines
• keeping to the prescribed doses
• not treating yourself with additional
medicines or other remedies.
Always check with your doctor
or pharmacist
• not using other people’s medicines