BRITISH JOURNAL OF ANAESTHESIA FITNESS TO DRIVE AFTER ANAESTHESIA Sir,—In the third edition of Medical Aspects of Fitness to Drive (published by the Medical Commission on Accident

Sir,—In the third edition of Medical Aspects of Fitness to Drive (published by the Medical Commission on Accident Prevention), Dr J. A. Havard, Deputy Secretary, B.M.A. writes, "With most general anaesthetics, it is safer to advise against driving for 48 hours afterwards." The apparent divergence of this advice from usual practice in Britain, coupled with the eminence of the author, has occasioned several queries from anaesthetists and the matter has come before the Anaesthetists' Sub-Committee of the C.C.H.M.S. and the Council of the Association of Anaesthetists. The time taken to achieve safe "road-worthiness" varies widely between different anaesthetic agents and depends on dose, metabolic fate of the agent and individual variation. It would be rare for an interval of 48 h to be necessary. There is no interval that could be recommended unconditionally for all situations; nevertheless, an interval of 24 h or "after a night's sleep" would be regarded normally as sufficient. Dr Havard's opinion must be presumed to be a personal one. P. J. F. BASKETT Honorary Secretary, Association of Anaesthetists M. D. VICKERS Chairman, Anaesthetists' Sub-Committee of the C.C.H.M.S.