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Thousands of people use caffeine to help stay awake whilst driving. Infact the AA recomends it.
Firstly the AA and RAC (in fact the RAC manufacture a high caffeine drink similar to Red Bull and plaster the legend 'THIS IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR REST' all over it) DO NOT recommend caffeine to combat tiredness as a primary factor they only recommend it as ONE very temporary measure to get you into a position where you can achieve the only antedote to tiredness which is rest.
Secondly comparisons with cocaine are entirely misleading because caffeine is a mild stimulant where cocaine is a much stronger one, and even caffeine (especially in some tired people) can aggravate anxiety in susceptable people making it harder to drive. Cocaine is also mind-altering drug in the sense that it is a dopamine agonist and temporary reuptake inhibitor; it can evoke false confidence. Tiredness and fatigue in advanced stages can have psychological effects such as anxiety and mild hallucenaecions (sp?) which can include thinking you can see things moving in your peripheral vision (this is a common one im sure alot of people can relate to or have experienced, but is by no means uniform). Cocaines effect on judgement could cause these to be aggravated or even for you to try so hard to ignore them that you actually ignore reality, how would you know?
TBH, anyone who drives under the influence of anything, I wouldn't get in a car with them if I were sober. Its irresponsible unless you are like messing around on a bit land with no-one about on it for a laugh, its only yourself you are harming then so it doesn't matter.
Although I think the fact he was doing 100 isn't linked to the drugs. Thats just the fact he was probably an irresponsible driver anyway.
Driving stoned would be scary, imo...
I'd be far more worried about someones driving after they've drunk no more than pint or two.
"Cocaine effects on driving performance have been examined in a series of studies performed at SCRI (Southern California Research Institute). Twenty-four healthy male subjects, ages 21-40 years, who were self-reported moderate users of cocainewere used. An initial experiment with cocaine (96 mg., intranasally) and alcohol 0.58 g/Kg b.w., found no impairment of driving-related laboratory tasks by cocaine [14]." "In a second experiment with 96 mg. cocaine, subjects performed better with cocaine than with placebo with greatest difference observed during a test battery beginning three hours after dosing. Since that second test time coincided with the afternoon slump, the findings raised questions about the drugs effects with circadian rhythm [15]. Time-of-day differences associated with cocaine’s effects were further studied in a nighttime experiment."
In the nighttime experiment [16], "Subjects participated in three two-day treatment sessions. Day 1 began between 18.00 h and 19.30 h. Subjects slept overnight and were awakened at 08.00 h to begin day 2." Each treatment of 96 or 126 mg. of cocaine was divided into three equal amounts given intranasally at half hour intervals. Blood specimens obtained 10 min. after each dose had the following concentrations of cocaine/benzoylecgonine; 3/57, 64/214, and 189/363 ng/mL. "D-A (divided-attention) and VIG (vigilance) data agree with previously-reported data [15] in demonstrating that the effects of cocaine on performance persist past the period of acute stimulation. When subjects were tested near midnight, scores were better with cocaine than with placebo. It was only in the placebo condition that overall D-A performance was significantly worse at the late night hour. D-A RTs were faster with 96 mg. cocaine whereas 126 mg. cocaine prevented slowing of VIG RTs (response times). These data suggest that cocaine effects may be task dependent as well as dose dependent."
"Based on the blood drug concentrations in this paper, knowledgeable experts should be able to rebut opinions of significant impairment by marijuana, cocaine, pseudoephedrine, amphetamines, lorazepam, fluoxetine, terfenadine, paroxetine, loratidine, nitrazepam, zoplicone, flunitrazepam and chronic doxepin. They appear to have little or no impairing effect on driving performance in the concentrations cited in this review. Opinions that higher concentrations results in impairment must be backed by scientifically acceptable evidence."
Taken from here
What is being provided in that analysis is a battery of driving related tests which are within a known and medicinally supervised environment, the subjects know this and are not subject to some of the pressures real life cocaine users are when driving, such as worry anxiety and far more potential variables. What i do accept is that this is evidence that cocaine might not be as much an impairment as say, alcohol but i do not accept that in a driving situation it is safer than normal.
The tests the subjects were put through did not seem to include immediate and sustained activity after driving...the part im most concerned about with your Bolivian motoring aid is when you start coming down off it and you get that depressed annoyance in your brain aggravating the fuck out of you, in the dark at night.
There are several moe problems i have with the science behind it but i will get onto them in due course if you dont mind.
It's well within the law but it's something I wont ever do again. Infact the only time I'll drink alcohol whilst in control of a 'vehicle' is if I go out for a ride with my missus.
I I feel even the slightest bit unhappy I wont drive. I drive up and down the country all week long and I quite often pull into services buy a paket of pro plus and a red bull, neck them and have a power kip.
I take my driving very seriously.
Top Gear actually did a case study a few years ago. The man taht was tested, actually drove better after having a splif, than when he was sober. :rolleyes:
They said that after smoking the spliff it "generally" made people more careful, which is what showed up in the test.
It definately is not a good idea to drive whilst taking anything though.
I don't think that was the point he was making.
I know, I was just throwing it in, given that it was on the topic.