JavaScript is off. Please enable to view full site.

Police alarm as N.Z. 'sleep driver' goes for a spin

Police alarm as N.Z. 'sleep driver' goes for a spin

Wednesday, August 14, 2013, 09:50 GMT+7

A New Zealand woman drove for hundreds of kilometres (miles) while asleep at the wheel, sending texts from her mobile phone along the way, police said Wednesday.

Police said they received an emergency call just after midnight Wednesday from a friend concerned the woman had gone out in her car after taking sleeping medication.

Told that the woman had been sleep-driving 10 months previously and had a fondness for the beach, police ordered patrol cars to keep a lookout for her silver hatchback and began tracking her via her mobile phone.

They said data showed the phone was on and she was sending texts as she drove from her Hamilton home to the beachside town of Mount Maunganui via Auckland, a distance of almost 300 kilometres (190 miles).

After five hours on the road, she was finally found slumped over the wheel of her car in the driveway of a house she used to live in, with no recollection of her sleepy sojourn.

"We have sought an urgent order forbidding her to drive and to seek medical advice on her suitability to remain holding her driver's licence," senior sergeant Dave Litton said.

"While her being found safe and well is a relief for everyone involved, the potential for tragedy was huge.

"We're urging people suffering medical conditions to be open and honest with their doctors and seek advice on if the medication they are prescribed affects their ability to drive or not."  

AFP

More

;

VIDEOS

‘Taste of Australia’ gala dinner held in Ho Chi Minh City after 2-year hiatus

Taste of Australia Gala Reception has returned to the Park Hyatt Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City's District 1 after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Vietnamese woman gives unconditional love to hundreds of adopted children

Despite her own immense hardship, she has taken in and cared for hundreds of orphans over the past three decades.

Latest news