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Driving a large powerful vehicle like a motorhome takes a great deal of care and attention at the best of times. However, driving while under the influence of drugs can severely impair your driving abilities and can lead to accidents.

Road safety charity Brake reports that impairment by illegal or medical drugs contributed to 80 fatal road crashes and 404 involving serious injury in 2018 in Britain. Indeed, experts estimate that the true figure could be much higher.

All drivers know it’s illegal to drive if they’re impaired by alcohol or illegal drugs. But did you know the rules also apply to prescription drugs?

By arranging insurance through Lancaster Insurance, you’re clearly a law abiding person. So, read our guide to this tricky area to protect yourself and others. We don’t want you to put yourself at risk when driving your motorhome.

Potential risks of driving on prescription medication

Driver awareness is an important part of motorhome safety.

However, many prescription and over-the-counter medications – from cough and cold medicines to antidepressants and epilepsy drugs – can impair our ability to drive safely. For example, such drugs can: 

• Cause drowsiness
• Slow down your reaction times
• Impair your judgment of time, distance and speed
• Decrease coordination and concentration
• Impair your vision

While all medications should have warnings printed on them, these can be vague or in small print. For example, they might indicate there’s a risk of impairment to your abilities but not specifically relate it to driving.

Leaving it to a user to judge their own level of impairment is hard, particularly if their judgment has already been impaired.

Indeed research conducted by Brake has found that 17% of UK drivers admit either ignoring warnings that medications may impair their driving ability, or not checking labels for such  warnings at all.

Any of these impairments can also be made worse by medications being taken together or with alcohol.

Prescription medicines and their limits

You may think you know your limits on drinking alcohol while driving but what about prescription medication?

The laws on drug driving are clear and strictly enforced. It’s illegal in England, Scotland and Wales to drive with prescription drugs in your body if it impairs your driving ability.

It’s also an offence to drive if you have over the specified limits of certain drugs in your blood and you have not been prescribed them.

The law does not cover Northern Ireland but you could still be arrested if you’re unfit to drive.

Talking to your doctor about whether you should drive is essential if you’ve been prescribed any of the following drugs.

We’ve also included the legal limits for your bloodstream. However, it’s impossible to know what dosage equates to the threshold levels as it differs from person to person. If in any doubt at all, do not drive your motorhome.

• Amphetamine, for example dexamphetamine prescribed for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and narcolepsy - 250µg/L.
• Clonazepam used to control seizures or fits due to epilepsy - 50µg/L.
• Diazepam used to treat anxiety, muscle spasms and fits - 550µg/L.
• Flunitrazepam sometimes used to treat chronic insomnia - 300µg/L.
• Lorazepam as well as being used to treat anxiety or sleeping disorders it’s also been prescribed to help with chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting - 100µg/L.
• Methadone used for chronic pain management but also in the treatment of opioid addiction - 500µg/L.
• Morphine or opiate and opioid-based drugs, for example codeine, tramadol or fentanyl - 80µg/L.
• Oxazepam used in the treatment of anxiety and insomnia and in the control of symptoms of alcohol withdrawal syndrome - 300µg/L.
• Temazepam for insomnia - 1000µg/L.

You can drive after taking these drugs if you’ve been prescribed them and are following advice on how to take them by your doctor, pharmacist or healthcare professional.

Even if you go above specified limits in your bloodstream you’re still within the law if they’re not causing you to be unfit to drive.

However, while you might think you’re legal, the police can still stop you and make you do a ‘field impairment assessment’ if they think you’re unfit to drive.

If you fail this test or they think you’re unfit, you’ll be arrested and will have to take a blood or urine test at a police station.

If you drive a motorhome and take prescription medicine, it may be helpful to keep evidence of this with you in case you're stopped by police.

What are the legal consequences?

The dangers of drug driving are such that the penalties are severe. If you’re convicted of drug driving, you’ll get:

• A minimum 12-month driving ban and an unlimited fine
• Up to 6 months in jail
• A criminal record
• For 11 years your driving licence will show you’ve a conviction for drug driving

If you cause death by dangerous driving while under the influence of drugs, you’ll get a prison sentence of up to 14 years.

But your problems don’t just stop there. You might find it difficult to get motorhome insurance as a result – either finding that premiums are really expensive, or that certain insurance providers refuse to cover you altogether.

You may also have trouble when travelling abroad to countries like the USA. Motorhome insurance from Motorhome Protect lets you easily take your motorhome abroad without a second thought. But that dream of driving across the US could be destroyed by a drug driving conviction.

Insurance to protect you and other road users

Following the laws on prescription drugs is an important part of keeping you and other road users safe and so is having a sufficient motorhome insurance policy.

By arranging cover through the specialist team at Lancaster Insurance you could benefit from a range of benefits including:

• 90 days EU cover and a 365-day option available for an additional premium
• New for old replacement available if vehicle is less than one year old
• Up to £1,000 audio cover
• Windscreen cover
• Personal effects cover up to £5,000
• Up to £2,500 cover for awnings, gas bottles, generators and camping equipment
• Optional breakdown cover from £49.95

Call Lancaster Insurance today and protect your home on wheels.

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.