Columbia, South Carolina Sleep Driving DUI Charges
If you have been charged with a sleep driving DUI in South Carolina, you are not alone. Although it’s been well over a year since the FDA asked the manufacturer of Ambien to lower the recommended prescription dose, we continue to hear from potential clients who have been charged with a sleep driving DUI in South Carolina for taking legally prescribed sleep medication such as Ambien.
Ambien, which is taken by millions of Americans each year to aid insomnia, comes with a slew of potentially dangerous side effects including somnambulism, commonly referred to as sleep walking, or even more dangerous, sleep driving.
According to reports, someone legally prescribed Ambien may do things that he or she would not normally do, including getting out of bed, into a car, and driving. What’s worse is that a patient under the influence of Ambien may drive erratically, on the wrong side of the road, or run in to stationary objects. These victims would not normally have engaged in such behavior had Ambien not been in their blood stream. Most importantly, someone who is pulled over for a sleep driving DUI for driving under the influence of Ambien or another sleep aid may not have any recollection of what led up to the event or event getting into the car.
If you have been charged in South Carolina with a sleep driving DUI, and you are accused of driving under the influence of a prescription drug such as Ambien, there is hope. If you are charged with a sleep driving DUI in South Carolina, it is up to the prosecution to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you were driving under the influence. Even if this can be accomplished, an experienced Columbia, South Carolina DUI attorney can work to prove, through expert testimony or otherwise, that you lacked the mental condition at the time to render you criminally responsible. In other words, your SC DUI attorney can plead involuntary intoxication.
If you have been pulled over for sleep driving and charged with DUI in Columbia, SC, it is extremely important that you contact a DUI attorney as quickly as possible.
At the Strom Law Firm, our Columbia, SC DUI attorneys offer a free consultation to discuss your legal rights and how we may be able to help. Call us today for your free consultation. 803.252.4800
