What Type of Medical Conditions Can Impair Your Driving?

As frustrating as it is to suffer from a debilitating medical condition, this challenge is compounded when it affects your ability to drive.

There are a wide number of medical problems that can impair your driving skills. Even if you were once a great driver, this may no longer be the case when your body begins to work against itself.

You might be surprised at what can impact your driving ability. Something as simple as fatigue can affect your vision and make it harder to watch the road.

You should avoid driving if you can’t do it optimally and sometimes this can be a tough thing to accept. The last thing you want to happen is a car accident that can make matters worse.

Let’s take a look at some of the most common medical conditions that affect your ability to drive so you can avoid being an unintentionally impaired driver.

Vision Complications

One of the most obvious problems is when your vision begins to fade. 

Most of driving is about what you can see. You need to see the other cars on the road and identify any potential hazards coming your way.

When your vision isn’t as good as it used to be, your driving directly suffers. You might not notice a stop sign and can have difficulties registering what color the traffic light is on.

A few conditions that affect your vision include cataracts, glaucoma, macular degeneration from aging, and night blindness. If you can’t see well, then you shouldn’t be on the road unless your vision improves. Make a point to neverdrive at night when vision conditions are even worse.

Neurological Diseases

Another significant health problem involves neurological diseases. This includes ailments like multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and dementia. 

All of these diseases can affect your body in different ways, but a common theme is impaired judgment, poor decision making, and difficulties moving. In severe scenarios, you may forget how to drive altogether. 

There’s also a chance that you forget what you’re doing in the middle of driving. You might forget where you’re going and the rules of the road. This makes you into a major hazard that other drivers will need to be attentive enough to react to.

Unfortunately, many people suffering from neurological diseases aren’t fully aware of their condition. This is particularly dangerous because you have someone that overestimates their abilities and thinks they’re fully capable when they may not be. 

Musculoskeletal Conditions

Another category of health challenges that affect your driving includes musculoskeletal conditions. This applies to ailments like arthritis, osteoporosis, sarcopenia, and problems with your spine.

These are significant because they can make it difficult to move your body. When you’re driving, it’s crucial to be able to move properly to fully operate a car. 

Imagine driving down the road and needing to quickly stop your car. If your joints are locking up or slow to move, you might not have time to switch your foot from the gas pedal to the brakes. 

In this scenario, you won’t be able to avoid an accident. This is the main issue when driving with a musculoskeletal condition. Your bodily reflexes are hampered and you’re left at the mercy of other drivers.

Sleeping Problems

One final challenge that you might not think of is any form of disruption to your sleeping.

When you don’t get adequate sleep, your body will be in a state of fatigue. Chronic sleep problems like insomnia or sleep apnea will leave you perpetually fatigued.

Driving while fatigued is almost as dangerous as driving drunk. Your reaction times increase and your decision making deteriorates.

There’s also the possibility of falling asleep behind the wheel. This is particularly common when you have a condition like narcolepsy.

Falling asleep while driving is incredibly dangerous because you aren’t consciously focusing on the road. Furthermore, fighting to stay awake means that you aren’t alert and can’t watch the other vehicles on the road.

While sleep problems may not be as debilitating as the other ailments mentioned above, fatigue can still cause a serious accident.

Closing Thoughts

Dealing with any medical condition is a major hassle and comes with many complications. One of these can be an impairment to your ability to drive.

When your body and mind isn’t at 100%, it’s difficult for you to drive safely. Some people take driving for granted and view it as a passive skill, but it requires your active attention and good judgment at all times. 

This is why you should always be honest with yourself about whether you are truly fit to drive. You should never let your pride get in the way and lead to you causing an accident.

If you suffer from any vision complications, neurological diseases, musculoskeletal conditions, or sleeping problems, you should pay attention to how it affects your driving. Consider consulting with your doctor and seeing if they think that you can drive safely. 

As frustrating as it may be, your safety always comes first and sometimes it’s just not worth taking the risk of driving by yourself.