Do we know enough about this medical condition to include this in our road safety materials? I watched with great interest a documentary on this topic on Carte Blanche last evening. There was one specific section that caught my eye, and I would like to quote from the interview both with the psychiatrist and the “patient”[if I may say so].
Psychiatrist / Dr Janet: “If you won the lottery, if you could imagine how you would feel on that day, that would be a mild high. Going higher than that though, severe sleep disturbance, going a number of days with a few hours sleep. Your brain starts to move faster, your brain starts to make associations which may or may not be there. You start to become overly-confident, maybe aggressive, forceful, intrusive. Going higher you may start to become grandiose, believing you have special powers.”
Patient / Simon: “Felt like I was smarter than other people. I had this sense of self-importance that I didn’t have before. I would speed and just believe that I couldn’t be killed. I felt I was invincible.”
This quote from Simon raised the risk to road safety – the risk that we are sharing the roads with people who – if their condition is not controlled- might consider and actually perform risky behavior on the roads. As we share the roads with other road users – we need to be attentive to factors that could influence the behavior of those road users.
The Arrive Alive website will do further research on this topic, but would - for now- like to share a few simple suggestions with our road users:
- If you have a family member who has disclosed his bipolar condition – treat him with respect and encourage him to follow the medical advice provided
- If you are bipolar – be aware of the possible side affects of the medication
- Motorists should be aware that there will be motorists with this medical condition sharing the road with them – do not engage into activities that might ignite anger amongst them!
- Be calm on the road – and do not retaliate even when angered – you never know who you might be up against..!
Visit the Arrive Alive website for additional information on topics such as “Road Safety and Health” and “Medication and Road Safety”.
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