It’s DUI to Get Behind the Wheel With Medicines That Impair Your Driving

If someone gets behind the wheel while under the influence of prescription drugs, is that DUI?

On the one hand, you may think, no it’s not. There’s no breathalyzer test, and the traditional roadside sobriety test, doesn’t apply. The driver we assume has those medicines legally. And when we say DUI, the words “under the influence,” tends to mean under the influence of alcohol.

But think again because the legal definition of DUI does, in fact, include and encompass driving under the influence of prescription medications.

Impaired Driving

Any type of medicine, to the extent it impairs a drivers’ faculties and their ability to normally operate a vehicle, can legally be DUI.

Of course, the problem from the state’s standpoint which has to prosecute a case, is that without a breathalyzer test, and because many prescription medicines don’t show up in people’s blood tests, it can be hard for the state to prove that someone was driving under the influence of prescription medicines beyond a reasonable doubt, the standard that must to proven in order to get a criminal conviction.

But as an accident victim, injured by someone who was driving while impaired by prescription medicines, you have an easier time proving liability against the driver than the state would trying to get a criminal conviction.

In fact, you can pursue civil liability to be compensated for your injuries, even if the state had to drop its charges or even if the driver was found not guilty in a criminal trial.

Getting the Evidence

Anytime the evidence warrants it (for example the driver was driving erratically or senselessly, or visibly was not able to maneuver or control the vehicle), an accident victim’s attorney should always ask what medicines the liable, negligent driver was taking at the time of the accident, and the time that the driver last took that medicine.

If the driver was arrested by police (even if there was never a criminal charge) the contents of the vehicle may have been inventoried, and that inventory should be checked to see if there were medicines inside of the vehicle at the time of the accident.

Punitive Damages

Whether out of lack of knowledge or because they just don’t care, many people do get behind the wheel with prescription medicines in them, medicines that can alter judgment, make drivers drowsy, or impair people’s ability to react when behind the wheel.

And legally, if it can be proven, an accident victim injured by a driver on prescription medicine, may be able to get punitive damages against such a driver, just as they could if the driver had alcohol in his or her system. .

Legal Marijuana

Many people will get behind the wheel while impaired by marijuana. Because they have a legal marijuana card, they figure it is legal to drive with it in their system. But that’s not true; even if they have I legally, driving while under the influence of marijuana is also DUI.

Injured by an impaired driver? We can help you prove your case. Schedule a consultation with our Tampa personal injury lawyers at Barbas, Nunez, Sanders, Butler & Hovsepian today for help.

Sources:

nytimes.com/2010/07/25/us/25drugged.html

fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/some-medicines-and-driving-dont-mix