New research has found that drivers who insist on getting behind the wheel when sick or suffering with a bad cold are just as likely to make mistakes on the road as those who have been drinking.
Cardiff University worked with UK insurance company Young Marmalade on the project, which estimated that the road skills of sick drivers could drop by as much as 50%, along with reduced concentration levels and slower reaction times. In fact, one researcher compared driving with the flu to driving after having drunk four double whiskeys.
Nigel Lacy, director of marketing for Young Marmalade, said in a press release that the study should be a warning to drivers feeling under the weather to let someone else get behind the wheel or take the bus.
However, some experts have cast doubts on the findings, as neither Cardiff University nor Young Marmalade were making the full details of the study available to the media or even other researchers.
Dr. Martin Bittner, a doctor in the department of infectious disease at a US hospital was one of those who questioned the results of the scientific study, claiming that so much information was missing from the press release that he found himself doubting the findings altogether.
One US broadcaster did its own calculations and worked out that if the findings are correct then there will be around one million sick Americans driving every day.
The only extra information released by researchers at Cardiff University was concerning their methodology; the group having used simulated driving, including testing braking and cornering, in laboratory conditions.
Another US doctor, Dr. Christopher Ohl, tentatively gave his backing to the findings, adding that it was hardly surprising that reaction times and concentration is affected when we are not feeling our best.
Ohl went on to say that people with flu and other contagious illnesses are already advised to stay away from work and public areas for the safety of others, though in this case it is to prevent the further spread of infection.
He added that if the study’s findings are accurate, it might be best to add driving to the list of activities that sick people should avoid to protect themselves and others from both illness and injury.
