Naturalistic conversation improves daytime motorway driving performance under a benzodiazepine: a randomised, crossover, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

Ladislav Moták, Laëtitia Bayssac, Jacques Taillard, Patricia Sagaspe, Nathalie Huet, Patrice Terrier, Pierre Philip, Agnès Daurat
Accident Analysis & Prevention. 2014-06-01; 67: 61-66
DOI: 10.1016/j.aap.2014.02.009

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1. Accid Anal Prev. 2014 Jun;67:61-6. doi: 10.1016/j.aap.2014.02.009. Epub 2014 Feb
20.

Naturalistic conversation improves daytime motorway driving performance under a
benzodiazepine: a randomised, crossover, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

Moták L(1), Bayssac L(1), Taillard J(2), Sagaspe P(2), Huet N(1), Terrier P(1),
Philip P(2), Daurat A(3).

Author information:
(1)Laboratoire Cognition, Langues, Langage, Ergonomie (CLLE-LTC), UMR 5263, CNRS,
Université de Toulouse Le Mirail, Toulouse, France.
(2)Université de Bordeaux, CNRS, Sommeil, Attention et Neuropsychiatrie, USR
3413, Bordeaux, France.
(3)Laboratoire Cognition, Langues, Langage, Ergonomie (CLLE-LTC), UMR 5263, CNRS,
Université de Toulouse Le Mirail, Toulouse, France. Electronic address:
.

The adverse effects of benzodiazepines on driving are widely recognised. The aims
of this study were both to determine the impact of naturalistic conversation on
the driving ability of drivers under a benzodiazepine, and to measure the
accuracy of drivers’ assessments of the joint effects of the benzodiazepine and
conversation. Sixteen healthy male participants (29.69 ± 3.30 years) underwent a
randomised, crossover, double-blind, placebo-controlled study with the
benzodiazepine lorazepam (2mg). They drove 200 km (125 miles) on a motorway in
the morning. We measured two driving ability-related variables (i.e.,
lane-keeping performance), and collected a set of self-assessed variables (i.e.,
self-assessment of driving performance) during two 10-min sequences of interest
(no conversation vs. conversation). An analysis of variance revealed an
interaction whereby lane-keeping performance under lorazepam was worse in the
no-conversation condition than in the conversation condition. No such difference
was detected under placebo. Pearson’s correlation coefficients revealed that
self-assessments were (i) not at all predictive of lane-keeping when performed
before the drive, but (ii) moderately predictive of lane-keeping performance when
performed during or after the drive. We conclude that conversation with a
passenger may contribute to safer lane-keeping when driving under a
benzodiazepine. Moreover, a degree of awareness may be attained after some
experience of driving under the influence of this type of medication.

Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

DOI: 10.1016/j.aap.2014.02.009
PMID: 24631977 [Indexed for MEDLINE]

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