Allergy sufferers who use medications to combat symptoms could be hazardous drivers. Many legal prescriptions and over-the-counter drugs, including oral antihistamines, make driving unsafe due to side effects like sleepiness, loss of focus/attention, blurred vision and decreased coordination.

“If you are planning on driving while taking allergy medicine or any other medicine, be aware that these medicines may affect your driving ability,” says Diane Calello,  Executive and Medical Director, NJ Poison Control Center at Rutgers NJ Medical School’s Department of Emergency Medicine. “Reaction time can be slowed down, and drugged driving – even with legal medications – can have the same effects as driving under the influence of alcohol.”

Experts at New Jersey Poison Control Center are available to discuss the side effects of allergy medication that the public might not realize and how to effectively manage symptoms without affecting their driving ability.

Available to comment from the New Jersey Poison Control Center at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School’s Department of Emergency Medicine are:

-       Diane Calello, Executive and Medical Director, [email protected]

-       Bruce Ruck, Pharm.D., Managing Director, [email protected]

E-mail Calello or Ruck directly or contact Alicia Gambino, NJ Poison Control, at 973 972 9280 or [email protected]