New Zealand Woman Drives And Texts For Nearly 300KM While Asleep

[Initech]

The dangers of texting and driving are well documented but a Hamilton woman has increased those risks even further - doing both while asleep.

The woman, who suffers from a sleep condition and was taking sleeping pills, was asleep when she drove more than 300 kilometres from her Hamilton home to Auckland and then to Mt Maunganui late on Tuesday night.

Police say she was texting throughout her unconscious drive and has no recollection of the incident, which began around midnight on Tuesday.

Five hours later, her cousin found her slumped over her steering wheel in the driveway of her former home in Mt Maunganui.

Read more: http://www.3news.co.nz/Woman-drives-300km-while-asleep/tabid/423/articleID/308899/Default.aspx#ixzz2byDxsrp2

[Suich]

1. What "sleep condition" warrants taking sleeping pills?

[JoeyT]

2. Insomnia?

I'm guessing the pills were probably Ambien. They're terrible about that. The only time I ever took one I got up, took a shower, and got ready for work before going back to sleep and didn't remember a bit of it.

[MADem]

3. The famous "Ambien moment!"

Rhode Island's former Congressman Kennedy had an encounter with the Capitol Police after taking Ambien, not getting into bed, and zipping off at two thirty in the morning (after drinking, to add insult to injury) because he believed he had to get to a key vote.

I've read stories about people going to WALMART in their pjs and maxing out their credit cards, going home, and waking up the next morning to find the living room full of shit they didn't want or remember that they'd bought.

I don't go for sleeping pills--too strong for me!