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A woman with a sleeping disorder managed to drive from Hamilton to Mt Maunganui via Auckland overnight - an event which police say could've had a tragic ending.

Police were called by the woman's friend shortly after midnight concerned that she had taken sleeping pills and had driven from her Hamilton home.

The woman's phone was on and she was texting while driving, but those receiving her messages believed she was half asleep.

After initially thinking she might have been heading to the beach at Raglan, police managed to trace her phone to Otara in Counties Manukau but she had gone by the time they got there.

The next text placed her in en route to the Coromandel.

She was eventually found at her former residence in Mt Maunganui.

Senior Sergeant Dave Litton says the woman's cousin found her, asleep, slumped over the wheel.

"When woken she had absolutely no recollection of the events overnight and we have sought an urgent order forbidding her to drive and to seek medical advice on her suitability to remain holding her drivers licence.

He says police want drivers with medical conditions to adhere to the restrictions of any prescriptions they may be on.

"Safer journeys being everyone's responsibility isn't just a slogan it's an obligation we all take when getting behind the wheel. Last night's events could have so easily ended in tragedy which is something I am sure, we all want to avoid."

- nzherald.co.nz