Driving a vehicle while taking illegal or legal prescription drugs can get you arrested. It is important to note that even medication legally prescribed by a doctor can get you into trouble with the law if you drive while taking the substance if an officer notices you are driving impaired. Though taking the substance is not illegal, you still might need the services of a DUI attorney or DUI lawyer if you are arrested. If you are taking prescription medication, it is important to not assume you are safe. You need to read the warning labels on the medication, talk to your doctor about side effects and take the medication for some time before driving to determine if you are going to be affected in a negative manner that might affect your driving.

The amount of drug, legal or illegal, permitted in a person’s body to legally drive varies from state to state. This is the same as alcohol. Traffic experts and law enforcement believe about twenty percent of accidents and traffic related deaths are caused by narcotics. It is also true that two times as many are caused by men as there are by women. The process of determining if someone is driving under the influence of narcotics starts with a traffic stop. If a person is stopped and an officer believes narcotics might be involved, they typically call for the help of a drug expert law officer. A drug test is given to determine the amount of drug in their system.

Prior to testing the blood for drugs, you might be required to undergo a traditional breathalyzer test. Since it is usually easier to determine if a person has been drinking because of the odor, this eliminates the possibility that the erratic driving was caused by alcohol. Once the officer is sure it is not alcohol related, he can further request the drug test to determine what was causing the impaired driving. Remember, limits can be changed at any time, so do not assume you are safe just because you think you only had a little bit of a substance.

Another issues that should cause concern for a driver is the length of time drugs stay in the system versus alcohol. If you have a few drinks on Saturday night, the effects are long gone by Monday. If you are pulled over for erratic driving and forced to take a test, your body will not show the presence of alcohol. However, if you used drugs of any kind in the same time-frame, they will still be present in your body. The best way to avoid a problem is to not drive for several days after using a drug. If this is a problem for prescription medication, talk to your doctor about switching to a medicine that does not cause impairment.

Remember, no matter what you take, it is likely to cause impairment. Even if you think an over-the-counter drug is safe, you still need to be aware of how it affects your body. Something as simple as cold or allergy medicine can affect your response time and your judgment while on the road.

Author Bio: Stewart Wrighter recently spent time researching law firms with an Omaha DUI attorney. He hired an Omaha DUI Lawyer to represent his brother.

Category: Legal
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