When can I drive after hip or knee surgery?

Driving safely after surgery depends on three things coming together: you're off sedating pain medication, you have enough strength and reaction time in the leg that would operate the pedals, and you can comfortably get in and out of the car and manage a seatbelt. Those three things arrive at different times for different people, which is why surgeons give a range rather than a single date at your pre-op visit.

If you drive an automatic transmission and your surgery was on your left hip or knee, the accelerator and brake leg is unaffected, and many patients feel ready sooner — often once they're off strong pain medication and moving comfortably, sometimes within one to two weeks. If a manual clutch is involved, treat the left side the same as the right, since the clutch leg needs full strength and control too.

Right-sided surgery is more restrictive, because that's the leg that operates the brake pedal in an automatic. Surgeons generally want to see good quadriceps control (the ability to push firmly and quickly, and to react in an emergency) before clearing a patient to drive. For a right knee replacement, this is frequently in the four-to-six-week range; for a right hip, often two to four weeks, though this varies by surgeon and by how the surgery was performed.

Opioid pain medication slows reaction time and impairs judgment, even when you feel fine. Most surgeons consider it unsafe — and, depending on the medication and jurisdiction, potentially a legal issue — to drive while taking regular opioid doses. Many patients taper off these within the first one to two weeks as part of a multimodal pain plan (see our article on managing pain beyond opioids), which is often what actually unlocks driving sooner than people expect.

Before getting back on the road, it's reasonable to test yourself in a parked, stationary car: can you get in and out without significant effort or pain, sit with your seatbelt on comfortably, and press the pedals firmly and repeatedly without hesitation? If any of that is uncomfortable or slow, you're not ready yet, regardless of how many days have passed. Your surgeon or physiotherapist can also do simple strength checks at a follow-up visit to confirm you're safe.

It's worth checking with your own insurer, since some policies have language about driving fitness after recent surgery, and being involved in a collision while you were arguably not fit to drive could complicate a claim. When in doubt, ask your surgical team for a specific go-ahead rather than guessing from a generic timeline — this is a common and welcome question at any follow-up appointment.

Most people are back to driving somewhere between two and six weeks after hip or knee replacement, with the deciding factors being which side was operated on, whether you're clear of sedating medication, and whether you can control the pedals confidently. If you're not sure, ask — it's a five-minute conversation that avoids an unsafe guess.