Having a bad cold or the flu can significantly affect a driver’s responses, insurers have claimed.
One hundred drivers with a range of conditions including colds, stress and headaches and 50 who were healthy were put through a hazard simulator test, BBC reported on Saturday.
The research, for Lloyds TSB Insurance, found that drivers with colds scored, on average, 11% worse—equivalent to the effect of a double whisky.
Experts said being ill could affect driving ability. The study, carried out by PCP research agency, looked at 60 people with colds and flu as well as 40 with other conditions including premenstrual syndrome. They said that applying the 11% effect to reaction times would add 1 meter to stopping distance if traveling at 48kmph—on top of a normal distance of 12 meters.
In a separate YouGov poll of 4,000 people carried out for the insurers, 22 people had had an accident while having a bad cold and five while they had flu.
The company estimated that, as 33.5 million adults drive in Britain drive, extrapolating out the YouGov figures would equate to 125,000 accidents caused last year by motorists with colds and flu.
Paula Llewellyn, a spokesperson for the company, said: “Getting behind the wheel when ill causes thousands of accidents every year. Try to avoid driving if you’re suffering from cold or flu.” Top
