[Analgesics, benzodiazepines and traffic]

A number of articles concerned with competence to drive motor vehicles under the influence of psychotropic agents were reviewed with the object of assessing the abilities of patients receiving treatment with pain-killing drugs to drive. The majority of psychotropic agents decreased the capacity to drive considerably, when the person concerned is not used to these drugs and even after habituation where benzodiazepines are concerned. Some investigations suggest that opioids such as metadone are only dangerous in traffic until the person concerned has become adjusted to a regular dosage. The methodological problems in the investigations are discussed with particular attention to the specificity of the method of measurement. Orienting driving tests are recommended compared with epidemiological investigations.