In the days following last year’s Princes Highway Boxing Day crash, which claimed the lives of the Falkholt family, attention was focused on the fact the man who caused the accident was returning to Ulladulla from a Nowra methadone clinic.
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Quite rightly, a conversation ensued over whether drivers with methadone in their system should be allowed to drive with the drug in their system.
People working the drug rehabilitation field responded by saying banning people with methadone in their systems would jeopardise their addiction treatments.
They said there was no evidence prescribed doses of the drug impaired drivers.
It was a conversation worth having, which pointed to a need to look at all prescription drugs and how they might affect a person’s ability to drive.
The NSW government is now moving to tighten the rules over what prescription drugs can and can’t be in a driver’s system when they get behind the wheel.
This makes perfect sense.
Anyone who has taken strong, codeine-based painkillers, for instance, will know how these can cause drowsiness. A resulting split-second microsleep can have catastrophic consequences on the road, so the advice has always been not to drive while these drugs are in your system.
Strengthening guidelines for the Opioid Treatment Program and making clear the rights and responsibilities of those either getting treatment or prescribing it is welcome news for the vast majority of people who drive unimpaired by drugs or alcohol.
However, for people undergoing addiction treatment in regional areas such as ours, where there is a lack of public transport, there will be challenges. In the same way some drivers take to the road when they are the under the influence of illicit drugs and alcohol, there will be those on listed prescription drugs who will do the same, especially if they rely on their cars to get around.
The government plans to address this by having stricter guidelines for doctors to report their concerns about patients to the licensing authority. This might make a difference but unless the provision of public transport is improved the sad reality is people will still get behind the wheel when they shouldn’t.
So, while the review makes good sense, its benefits are likely to fall mainly in the cities, where there are public transport options. For us in the regions, it will a different story.
