MEDICATIONS AND DRIVING -- A DOSE OF CAUTION

Illegal drugs and alcohol get most of the headlines, and certainly do most
of the damage, when it comes to driving impaired. But you don't have to
drink or smoke or snort or inject to get into trouble on the roads.

All you have to do is catch cold.

Experts say common legal medications, such as those taken for colds,
allergies or depression, can quietly subdue your senses and impair driving
as much as alcohol does.

The problem may even be more insidious, since those who drink at least
realize they've been drinking. If you're looped on medicinal stuff, you may
have no clue. You may not even be yawning.

It may be difficult to believe, since doctors don't often warn patients,
there is no list of legal medications to avoid while driving and there's no
MADM -- Mothers Against Driving Medicated.

But the danger is real. If you're taking medicine, take care, too.

Don't turn your holidays into a dangerous holi-daze.