Driving While Urinating
Ambien zombies behind the wheel.
By William Saletan
Updated Wednesday, March 8, 2006, at 8:16 AM E

The new threat on the roads is pill-induced "sleep-driving." Americans are getting 26 million prescriptions each year for Ambien, which in some states is now among the 10 drugs most commonly detected in blood tests of impaired drivers. Some cops say it's worse than booze because drivers keep going after their first crash. Ambien's maker blames users who mix it with alcohol. Lawyers blame doctors who prescribe sleeping pills "like Pez." Drivers say they have no memory of driving or even getting into their cars after taking the pills. Skeptics dismiss these "Ambien alibis" but have trouble explaining why some of the affected people get in their cars in nightshirts in freezing weather and urinate while driving.