Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2009 Aug;18(8):647-58.
doi: 10.1002/pds.1763.

The impact of medicinal drugs on traffic safety: a systematic review of epidemiological studies

Ludivine Orriols  1 , Louis-Rachid Salmi, Pierre Philip, Nicholas Moore, Bernard Delorme, Anne Castot, Emmanuel Lagarde
Affiliations

The impact of medicinal drugs on traffic safety: a systematic review of epidemiological studies

Ludivine Orriols et al. Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf. 2009 Aug.

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the quality of epidemiological research into effects of medicinal drugs on traffic safety and the current knowledge in this area.

Data sources: The bibliographic search was done in Medline electronic database using the keywords: ((accident* or crash*) and traffic and drug*) leading to 1141 references. Additional references were retrieved from the Safetylit website and the reference lists of selected studies. Original articles published in English or French, between 1 April 1979 and 31 July 2008, were considered for inclusion. We excluded descriptive studies, studies limited to alcohol or illicit drug involvement and investigations of injuries other than from traffic crashes. Studies based on laboratory tests, driving simulators or on-the-road driving tests were also excluded. Eligible studies had to evaluate the causal relationship between the use of medicinal drugs and the risk of traffic crashes. Study quality was assessed by two independent experts, according to a grid adapted from the strengthening the reporting of observational studies in epidemiology (STROBE) statement.

Results: Twenty two studies of variable methodological quality were included. Definition of drug exposure varied across studies and depended on the data sources. Potential confounding due to the interaction between the effects of the medicinal drug and disease-related symptoms was often not controlled. The risk of motor-vehicle crashes related to benzodiazepines has been amply studied and demonstrated. Results for other medicinal drugs remain controversial.

Conclusion: There is a need for large studies, investigating the role of individual substances in the risk of road traffic crashes.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

References

    1. European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction. Literature review on the relation between drug use, impaired driving and traffic accidents. Lisbon: EMCDDA; Feb, 1999. (CT.97.EP.14)
    1. Jones R, Shinar D, Walsh JM. State of the knowledge of drug impaired driving. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; Sep, 2003. (DOT HS 809 642)
    1. Commission of the European Communities. European Road Safety Action Programm 2003–2010. Halving the number of road accidents victims in European Union by 2010: a shared responsibility (COM (2003)311) 2003
    1. Morland J. Driving under the influence of non-alcoholic drugs. Forensic sci Rev. 2000;12(1/2):79–104. - PubMed
    1. Walsh JM, de Gier JJ, Christopherson AS, Verstraete AG. Drugs and driving. Traffic Inj Prev. 2004;5(3):241–53. - PubMed

Publication types

Substances