Respiratory experts warn that sleep apnoea increases a driver's risk of being involved in a serious road accident.

In obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), a person stops breathing hundreds of times during the night, because of an obstruction to the airways. It's known that OSA increases the risk of cardiovascular problems, as well as causing daytime fatigue. Now a team from the European Respiratory Society warn of the dangers of people with OSA driving a car.

They calculate that the risk of a serious care accident goes up six to seven times if a driver has OSA. They would like to see OSA added to the list of conditions which requires treatment if the person is to keep their licence. This happens in France, Netherlands, Spain and the UK, but the experts think that monitoring of treatment is not always done properly. They'd like to see Europe-wide regulations to protect those with OSA from having accidents when they are on the road.

Source

European Respiratory Journal December 2002