‘DON’T take the high road,’ driving under the influence of drugs is the latest thought provoking road safety message aimed at Carmarthenshire drivers.

A graphic showing roadway filled with pills and drugs paraphernalia is being repeated on the backs of buses and on A-board trailers that will be touring the county’s municipal car parks throughout September. Colourful cards have also been distributed to colleges to get the messages out to as many drivers and age groups as possible.

There is a monthly road safety theme that has already covered texting at the wheel; driving under the influence of drugs; winter maintenance and speeding. Think motor cycle, among many others.

The monthly cards are the brainchild of Carmarthenshire council’s road safety team supported by Carmarthenshire Community Safety Partnership’s Road Safety Action Group.

County road safety manager Keith Griffiths said the campaign was having a significant and positive impact on drivers especially the campaigns covering bald tyres, drink driving and speeding.

He said: “This month we are reinforcing the message that driving under the influence of drugs is illegal.

“Drugs that impair your driving need not be illegal ones. It can also be an offence to drive after taking certain products that are sold over the counter, like some cough medicines and antihistamines.

“Drugs can affect your mind and body in a variety of ways that mean you are not able to drive safely and the effect can last for hours or even days.

“Drivers should always know about the effects of any medicine they caretaking, check the labels carefully and if in doubt check with their doctor or pharmacist.

Mr Griffiths warned against adopting silly rules about how much you could and couldn’t drink because there was no safe way to calculate that with age, weight, stress and metabolism and food intake affecting driving ability after drinking.

Mr Griffiths warned: “Drivers should remember that if they take drugs and drive it might not be just their licence they lose.”