Kerry Kennedy’s Ambien Defense: RFK Daughter Will Plead Not Guilty After Tractor-Trailer Crash

Kerry Kennedy, daughter of Robert F. Kennedy, is set to plead not guilty in a car crash last week that she says was caused by the use of the sleep aid Ambien.

Kerry Kennedy was, according to ABC News, seen driving erratically in Westchester on Friday. The car Kennedy was driving then collided with a tractor trailer, and Kennedy, 52, is reported to have left the scene of the accident after the crash.

Later, Kerry Kennedy was discovered slumped over the wheel, and she reported no recollection of slamming into the tractor trailer earlier in the day. But Kennedy told police that prior to the accident she may have taken the sleep aid Ambien, and she was arrested and charged with driving while impaired.

The incident was similar to one involving Kennedy’s cousin Patrick Kennedy, a former Rhode Island congressman who also had a high-profile Ambien-related car accident. Patrick Kennedy told the news network:

“We know in my family that this is out of character for Kerry, and we’re worried about this as anybody would be when a loved one is in a car accident… [The 2006 accident] was a wake-up call for me in many respects. These are medications that are very powerful, and if it was a medication like Ambien, then it’s something that we all need to be aware of.”

Patrick Kennedy says of cousin Kerry Kennedy’s Ambien-related accident, however, that he hasn’t ever known her to struggle with substance abuse. Kennedy explains:

“Kerry is certainly is somebody who, I think, is a resilient person,” he said. “I know she’ll be moving forward.”