Danger of driving and sleeping pills

WCCO- MN - Nearly seven percent of the population takes prescription sleep medications like Restoril or Ambien to sleep. But the American Journal of Public Health says those who take these pills at night are twice as likely to have a car accident during the day.

Dr. Conrad Iber is the medical director of the Fairview Sleep Program at the University of Minnesota. “One of the reasons that’s true is that sleeping pills stay in the body,” Iber said. “This is kind of a silent problem. You’re not aware of the fact that you’re impaired when you’re driving in the morning.” The authors of the study compare these results to having a .06 to .11 blood alcohol level.