Being sick is no fun at all, and cold medicine can provide some fast relief. But it can also affect your reaction times and your reflexes. That means it can affect your driving—most cold medicines include warnings about driving after taking the medicine. If you've gotten sick and need to go somewhere, try to postpone your trip, especially if you've already taken medicine. The lowered reflexes and bad reaction times can get you arrested for driving under the influence.
Drowsy Driving
Many cold medicines can make people so drowsy that they feel the tiring effects long after the rest of the medicine has worn off. They can nod off when confronted by a monotonous situation—like being stuck in traffic—or they can miss signs that would otherwise make them move over to avoid obstacles in the road, for example. Controlling the car can be difficult, too.
That can make you weave and look generally reckless behind the wheel. If a cop sees you, he or she will have to pull you over and test you to see if you're under the influence of something. If the effects of the medicine are still so strong that you fail the test, the cop can arrest you and have you charged with DUI.
Dismissed as Trivial
A lot of people don't take that seriously. After all, it's just a little cold or allergy medicine, right? It doesn't help that a lot of the higher-profile cases set forth as examples are rather outlandish. For example, Avvo notes that a Michigan man was arrested for DUI because he'd had cold medicine before driving—bottles of it. Not doses, bottles. That's a far cry from the spoonful most people might take, and they assume the warning doesn't apply to them.
People tend to think that their little dose won't be so bad. But it can have horrible consequences because they can be arrested for reckless driving in some cases, and full-on DUI in others. For example, Alabama makes driving under the influence of anything that affects your physical or mental reactions a DUI-worthy offense.
In addition to this, merely being sick can affect your response times, even if you haven't taken medication. Your best bet is to stay home and not travel. If you do, you're risking a DUI. And if it's too late, and you've just been released on bond after being charged, contact a lawyer (such as one from Brian Walker Law Firm, PC) immediately. You will need professional legal help to get through the case.
