Check your meds: How hay fever pills could cost you your licence
Thu, 28 May 2026
With temperatures on the rise, so too are symptoms of the dreaded hay fever – cases of which have trebled in the last 20 years.
Road safety and breakdown organisation GEM Motoring Assist is warning drivers of the potential risks of mixing allergy symptoms and medication with time behind the wheel.
The Met Office has reported high pollen levels in many areas this spring, with tree pollen including birch and oak likely to cause symptoms including sneezing and sore eyes that could impair your driving.
Drug driving counts
GEM adds that medicines used to relieve hay fever can cause drowsiness or affect concentration. Any driver whose ability is impaired by legal medication could be committing an offence.
It's not just illegal drugs that can cause a driver to fall foul of drug‑driving laws. Medicines apply too, so if your driving is impaired and you are involved in a collision, you could face prosecution.
"Allergy and public health sources show that hay fever cases in the UK have trebled over roughly the last 20 years," says GEM road safety adviser James Luckhurst.
"GEM is keen to ensure that drivers affected by hay fever understand that some remedies can affect their ability to drive safely. They could cause tiredness, dizziness or grogginess, as well as compromising a driver’s vision and reaction time.
Hay fever driving safety checklist
GEM has prepared the following tips for any driver likely to experience hay fever:
- Ask your doctor or pharmacist if a medicine could affect your ability to drive – especially if it's the first time you've taken it
- If you experience side effects from a medicine, don’t drive. Take public transport, or organise a taxi or a lift if you need to travel
- If you find a particular medicine is making you sleepy, find out if there is a non-sedating alternative available
- Try a new medicine for the first time at home when you do not need to drive, so you can see how it affects you
- Both prescription and over the counter medicines can cause drowsiness and other potentially dangerous side-effects. Check with your pharmacist
- Be aware that drinking even a tiny amount of alcohol while taking medicines can intensify drowsy side-effects
