Cold and Flu Season: A study by the London-based insurance company Young Marmalade reveals that driving with a cold or flu is like driving drunk!!! Researchers, who studied drivers with colds, recorded slower reaction times, more frequent sudden braking, and decreased awareness of surrounding traffic. Certain over-the-counter medications can also make you drowsy. Researchers used a black box to record times and reactions and say a driver who is 95% accurate when healthy falls to 65% when ill. The flu outbreak is expected to last another 8 to 10 weeks because the peak of flu season is in February.