Risk factors to driving impairment

Alcohol, drugs and certain medical conditions including fatigue present potential hazards in drivers on the road. Police and forensic practitioners are not infrequently involved in the assessment of suspected ‘drugged drivers’ to determine whether there is any evidence of drug effects. Dr Margaret Stark, a consultant forensic physician in London discusses some of the main risk factors to driving impairment and considers the various different legislative approaches to ‘drug driving’. She suggests that the difficulties of ‘proving impairment’ for certain drugs, especially when used in combination with alcohol, should result in a zero tolerance approach being considered. Her chapter, Driving Impairment: The Main Risk Factors is now available in the recently published volume 2 of Current Practice in Forensic Medicine, edited by John Gall and Jason Payne-James.