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Effects of lormetazepam and other benzodiazepine receptor ligands on car driving‐related skills
Author(s) -
Willumeit H.P.,
Ott H.,
Kuschel Chr.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
human psychopharmacology: clinical and experimental
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.461
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1099-1077
pISSN - 0885-6222
DOI - 10.1002/hup.470060304
Subject(s) - benzodiazepine , evening , vigilance (psychology) , driving simulator , morning , psychology , cognition , perception , medicine , simulation , computer science , cognitive psychology , psychiatry , neuroscience , receptor , astronomy , physics
Adequate car driving ability is essential for accident avoidance. Driving ability means the capability of the driver to keep a technically safe vehicle on a safe road without accident and free of danger to himself and to other traffic participants. Driving ability is influenced by the overall state of motivation, experience and fatigue of the driver, and is dependent on higher cognitive functions, perception, response selection and sensorimotor functioning. The large number of traffic accidents attributed to so‐called ‘driver failure’ include a high percentage of accidents in which the driver had taken drugs within the last 24‐hour period before the accident occurred. Results are presented from various studies showing different effects on driving performance and reaction time following nighttime application of long‐acting and short‐acting hypnotics. Furthermore, alcohol was used as an agent interfering with the test drugs. Different benzodiazepines were tested in two different situations characterized by high and low loads of motor coordination and vigilance level. In both experimental approaches it was revealed that in comparison to other hypnotics lormetazepam belongs to the group which do not exert hangover effects on drivingrelated skills. Even if lormetazepam were taken together with alcohol in the evening no driving‐related decrements were discovered the next morning. In conclusion it could be stated that lormetazepam belongs to the class of safe hypnotics inducing driving impairment far less than that produced by 0·8 BAC mg/ml, which is the upper legal limit for driving in Germany.