Legal aspects of intoxicating medication in relation to traffic safety

When a patient operates a vehicle, he commits a traffic Violation if he is incapable of conducting his vehicle safely in traffic at that time. If the lack of safety has been caused by medication or other types of intoxicating drugs, he commits a criminal offense. At present, scientific evidence suggests that the proof of a causal link between driving insecurities and the intake of intoxicating medication cannot solely be based upon the quality and quantity of such medication but must also take into account the possible establishment of visible physical disabilities. A physician must thoroughly inform his patient of all relevant risks both of the illness itself and its medical treatment in relation to traffic safety. The former is nevertheless not legally authorized to suspend the patient's driving licence; neither does his explicit permission to operate a vehicle generally protect the patient from criminal prosecution. Even in cases where the capability to operate a vehicle is not subject to medical doubts, a patient should be encouraged to constantly scrutinize this capability, especially in regard to unexpected side-effects of the medication. Insufficient medical advice may result in criminal responsibility of the physician if an accident is proved to have been caused by the patient, resulting in injury of the patient or a third party. If sufficient advice has been conveyed, possible criminal responsibility is limited to cases where the patient lacks the ability to act self-responsibly or if there is the imminent danger of an accident. If the physician learns that a patient with relevant disabilities will attempt to conduct a vehicle despite his opposite advice, he may inform the traffic authority after having repeatedly and unsuccessfully communicated with the patient and after having carefully belanced the interests of the parties involved. The physician is then longer obliged to abide by the requirement of medical confidentiality; there is, however, no legal obligation to report to the traffic authority.