Can taking soporifics or sedatives affect the capability of driving a vehicle?

In the photo there are tablets and capsules - sleeping pills and sedatives. Taking them may have a negative effect on your ability to drive a vehicle. The answer is: yes.

The Road Traffic Act prohibits a person from driving a vehicle after using a substance that acts in a similar way to alcohol, and it also requires every road user to avoid any action that could endanger road safety. Sleeping pills and sedatives, for example benzodiazepines, act on the central nervous system: they lengthen reaction time, weaken concentration and coordination, cause drowsiness, and some of them still work many hours after being taken - in the morning after a sleeping pill a driver can be just as unfit as after alcohol. Benzodiazepines are on the official list of substances that act in a similar way to alcohol, so driving after using them is a petty offence, and driving under their influence is a crime, even when a doctor prescribed the medicine. You will find a warning about the effect on driving in the leaflet, and sometimes also as a symbol on the packaging. If you have to take such medicines, you ask a doctor or pharmacist whether and when you can drive.

Legal basis: Art. 45 para. 1 point 1 and Art. 3 para. 1 of the Road Traffic Act (Prawo o ruchu drogowym)