Lorazepam impairs highway driving performance more than heavy alcohol consumption |
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Authors: | Agnès Daurat Patricia Sagaspe Ladislav Moták Jacques Taillard Laetitia Bayssac Nathalie Huet Colas Authié Daniel Mestre Pierre Philip |
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Affiliation: | 1. UMR 5263 CNRS – EPHE – Toulouse II University, “CLLE-LTC” Laboratory, Toulouse, France;2. Université de Bordeaux, CNRS, Sommeil Attention et NeuroPsychiatrie, USR 3413, Bordeaux, France;3. Laboratoire de Physiologie de la Perception et de l’Action (LPPA), UMR 7152 Collège de France, CNRS, Paris, France;4. Centre de Réalité Virtuelle de la Méditerranée (CRVM), UMR 6233, CNRS, Université de la Méditerranée, Marseille, France |
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Abstract: | While research indicates that benzodiazepine (BZD)-like drugs impair driving performance, it remains unclear (i) how far BZDs affect lane-keeping performance, compared with alcohol and (ii) to what extent this impact can realistically be measured in a simulated environment. To clarify these issues, 16 healthy male drivers who had never previously taken BZDs underwent a randomized, crossover, double-blind, placebo-controlled driving paradigm (with the BZD lorazepam) in both real-world and simulated settings. Two lane-keeping variables, namely inappropriate line crossings (ILCs) and standard deviation of lateral position (SDLP), were recorded during the driving sessions. Analyses revealed that (i) a single lorazepam dose (2 mg given by mouth) caused higher SDLP increases than a blood alcohol concentration of above 0.05%, and that (ii) this BZD effect was amplified in the simulated driving setting, mainly for ILCs. As a consequence, we recommend that physicians be made more aware of BZD-related risks and that researchers make a clear distinction between the effects of BZD intake per se and the impact of simulated driving settings. |
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Keywords: | Benzodiazepine Line-crossing Weaving Simulator On-road driving |
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