Sleep and Drug-Impaired Driving Overlap Syndrome

Abstract

Impaired driving associated with sedative/hypnotic use is often called sleep driving. Sleep driving is most often described as a variant of sleepwalking. A recent case provides the first complete clinical history and description of a sleep-driving case associated with sleepwalking from beginning to end. Sleepwalking-related behavior accounted for the onset and beginning of the episode. However, residual drug effects were also required to account for the driver's behavior at the end of the episode. Sleepwalking and residual drug effects after an awakening may overlap and be required to account for the impaired driver's behavior.