Risks of Mixing Driving with Sleeping Pills

From time to time many Americans will experience difficulty sleeping.
Before heading to the medicine cabinet for a sleeping pill; however, South Jersey personal injury lawyers say the sleep-deprived should carefully consider the likelihood that they will soon need to drive. A recent report published in the American Journal of Public Health (AJPH) reveals that sleeping pill usage can increase the risk of a car accident by as much one-third. Moreover, the use of a sleeping pill – also known as a sedative hypnotic – can leave drivers with the equivalent of a blood alcohol concentration of as much as .11%, well over the legal limit in New Jersey.

Sedative hypnotics work by slowing down the body’s Central Nervous System. When taken in a low dose, a sedative hypnotic results in calmness and relaxed muscles. Higher doses can cause memory loss, slurred speech and poor judgment. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, depending on the dosage level, a sedative hypnotic taken to relieve insomnia can remain in the system well into the following day. Women are more likely to experience prolonged side effects, because they eliminate the active ingredients in sedative hypnotics more slowly than men.

The AJPH tracked 409,171 adults enrolled in a health plan in Washington State, nearly six percent of whom received new prescriptions for a sedative hypnotic during the course of the study. New users were found to be at a greater risk of being involved in a car accident than non-users, with the highest risk group being those taking Ambien, and the lowest risk group being those taking Restoril. The AJPH recommends that doctors prescribing a sedative hypnotic provide counseling to patients on driving risks. Additionally, according to the AJPH, doctors should closely monitor the length of time a patient relies on sedative hypnotics for sleep.