Rising Threat of Zombie Drivers on U.S. Roads

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TheStatutoryApe said:
They give drivers liscences to narcoleptics?
I don't believe they ask for that information when you get a license.
 
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Evo said:
Oh, ok. My ex boss was narcoleptic.
Did he fall asleep at work?
 
zoobyshoe said:
Did he fall asleep at work?
Constantly. When we had meetings with our VP, I would sit on one side of him and someone else would sit on the other side and we'd take turns kicking him in the shins when his eyes would start to close.

I was in a very important client meeting once and he attended. I was presenting when I noticed the clients were all staring at him. His head was thrown back, his mouth open and he was sound asleep. :redface: I never let him go out with me again.
 
Evo said:
Constantly. When we had meetings with our VP, I would sit on one side of him and someone else would sit on the other side and we'd take turns kicking him in the shins when his eyes would start to close.

I was in a very important client meeting once and he attended. I was presenting when I noticed the clients were all staring at him. His head was thrown back, his mouth open and he was sound asleep. :redface: I never let him go out with me again.
That's amazing. I don't know anything about it, what causes it. But I gather there's no medication? Caffein pills, maybe?
 
Evo said:
I don't believe they ask for that information when you get a license.
With people at risk for seizing while driving, their neurologist contacts the DMV directly, himself, and gets them put on a list of people who can't legally drive. If they're seizure-free for a certain amount of time, they can usually get it back, but it's up to the discretion of the neurologist. I would thnk the same would apply with narcolepsy.
 
zoobyshoe said:
With people at risk for seizing while driving, their neurologist contacts the DMV directly, himself, and gets them put on a list of people who can't legally drive. If they're seizure-free for a certain amount of time, they can usually get it back, but it's up to the discretion of the neurologist. I would thnk the same would apply with narcolepsy.
If they're being treated, I don't think he was.
 
Evo said:
If they're being treated, I don't think he was.
So, it was kind of a situation where he fell asleep all the time, pretended it was no big deal, and no one mentions the word "Narcolepsy"?
 
zoobyshoe said:
So, it was kind of a situation where he fell asleep all the time, pretended it was no big deal, and no one mentions the word "Narcolepsy"?
Well, we all mentioned narcolepsy. It was a huge deal. But I don't think he ever went for treatment.
 
Evo said:
Well, we all mentioned narcolepsy. It was a huge deal. But I don't think he ever went for treatment.
Could be he'd check into it and realized he'd be restricted if he got that diagnosis.
 
zoobyshoe said:
Could be he'd check into it and realized he'd be restricted if he got that diagnosis.
Probably why he didn't go to the doctor. We had to have afidavits that we could drive, had clean driving records and furnish proof of insurance to retain our jobs. It became a requirement for all management employees since we had access to company cars.
 
Evo said:
Probably why he didn't go to the doctor. We had to have afidavits that we could drive, had clean driving records and furnish proof of insurance to retain our jobs. It became a requirement for all management employees since we had access to company cars.
Yeah, he wouldn't have met those criteria with a diagnosis of narcolepsy.
 
zoobyshoe said:
Yeah, he wouldn't have met those criteria with a diagnosis of narcolepsy.
So, he never drove, one of us always drove.
 
Evo said:
So, he never drove, one of us always drove.
I see. The narcoleptic rode shotgun, and the ambien sleep-drivers took the wheel. All works out.
 
zoobyshoe said:
I see. The narcoleptic rode shotgun, and the ambien sleep-drivers took the wheel. All works out.
:smile: :smile: :smile:
 
zoobyshoe said:
I see. The narcoleptic rode shotgun, and the ambien sleep-drivers took the wheel. All works out.
:smile: Evo, is this all at your current job, or in a different state? I just want to know in which state I should be watching out for the sleep-driving narcoleptics. :bugeye: And I thought I had enough to worry about with drunk drivers.
 
Evo said:
:smile: :smile: :smile:
Oh-oh. You responded with smileys only. I don't know what to say to a smiley. They're too non-verbal. I feel like I'm talking to a mime.
 
Oh, I'm reading posts in backward order and just realized Evo was talking about an EX-boss, so not the current job.
 
TheStatutoryApe said:
Wow... My ex used to fall asleep at the wheel but somehow was able to keep going without much effect to her driving than that she would start to decelerate and the car would drift back and forth in the lane a little bit. One night she was driving to the place she had just moved into and I was following in my car. She drove right past her last turn and kept going. I tried waving at her and flashing my lights at her but she didn't respond. I honked my horn. I slowed and she kept going. I pulled up next to her and she never looked over at me. I thought of getting in front of her and slowing to a stop but was afraid that she would run into me. She didn't stop until the street ended in a parking lot and suddenly she was wondering where she was. I was really scared that night especially since we hit every single green light and I wasn't sure if she would have stopped if we hit a red light.

I'm kind of...no...really worried about a friend right now who seems to be chronically sleep-deprived. He works in NY and commutes an hour each way on top of 12 to 14 hour work days, plus just returned from a trip across the country, so is jet-lagged too. I spoke to him on the phone yesterday, before he was leaving work, and not only was he just zoning out of the conversation, but at one point, said something so totally incoherent I was sure he was just talking in his sleep! I plead with him to just get a room and sleep in the city when he's that tired (he can afford it), but he stubbornly insists he's fine if he just cracks the window open when driving. :frown: It always leaves me worried I'm going to get a call one day that he was in some horrible accident on the way home because he fell asleep at the wheel. Yes, he should be smacked silly for it.
 
Moonbear said:
Yikes! When I first read the title, I thought you were going to be saying something about people who are too tired to be driving getting into accidents. But, actually taking a sleeping pill then getting into a car without even realizing it?! That explains the driving of the morning commuters a bit better though. :eek:

I thought that he was talking about me driving home after a 12-14hr graveyard shift!
 
Don't take my ambien away. :cry:

Just make these bad people stop taking it.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060315/ts_nm/insomnia_dc

Bizarre events linked to sleeping pills in US

"Strange behavior by insomniacs taking prescription drugs, ranging from binge eating to having sex while asleep, have raised safety questions about anti-insomnia medications like Sanofi-Aventis' Ambien."

I had a conversation on the phone recently with someone that called me after I had taken Ambien, and they don't believe I don't remember most of the conversation. That's what is weird, you sound fine, your speech isn't slurred, but you don't remember.
 
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"Ambien comes with a label warning of side effects including sleepwalking and hallucinations, and warns against combining the drug with alcohol. Yet, in many of the “Ambien driver” cases, alcohol was a factor, according to the report."

Good thing my Dad doesn't take that stuff, he'd be mixing the two several times a week...:rolleyes: :smile: