A recent study from the University of Cardiff in the UK found that driving with a common cold or the flu was just as dangerous as driving drunk. In fact, the study found that driving while sick was equivalent to driving after drinking 4 double whiskies! Drivers with colds tend to be distracted by their illness and less able to react to situations on the road and less aware of other vehicles. This information seems consistent with recent studies that find that driving while using a cell phone, texting or otherwise being distracted is just as dangerous as driving under the influence of alcohol. Of course, driving with a cold or the flu is not a crime (yet). Neither is driving while chatting on a cell phone, disciplining children, petting a dog on your lap or trying to eat your Taco Bell food, but all are dangerous in their own way.
A Kansas DUI requires 48 hours of incarceration for a conviction for a first offense, not to mention a driver’s license suspension and at least 6 months of ignition interlock device (installed and maintained at your expense). The penalties increase dramatically for subsequent DUI convictions. The Kansas DUI law makes it a crime not only to drive under the influence of alcohol, but also to drive under the influence of any drug, or a combination of alchol and drugs. You can get a DUI in Kansas for driving under the influence of non-prescription drugs. In other words, it is not a defense if you were driving under the influence of an over-the-counter medication like DayQuil or NyQuil. In fact, DUI in Kansas is an “absolute liability” crime. That is, there is no intent required. Even if you took an over the counter medicine and had no idea that it could impair your driving, even if your doctor gave the medicine to you with no warning label, you can still be convicted of a Kansas DUI. No one cares whether you had any knowledge that you were doing anything wrong or any intent to break the law.
So, the law is very serious about driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. Maybe it will get serious about other forms of distracted or impaired driving. I, for one, would rather not see laws outlawing driving while having a cold. But, it is curious that driving under the influence of substances, even if your driving is not actually impaired, is illegal, but all of these other dangerous driving situations are not.