Drowsy Driving - Prevention and CountermeasuresYou’re driving down the highway on a Friday afternoon when you notice the car in front of you is weaving. At first the weave is slight, then it becomes more pronounced. The vehicle first weaves to the shoulder of the road, the driver then corrects this error. The car continues on, driving straight for a little while and then swerves to the left. There is no time to correct, the vehicle crosses the middle lane and collides head-on into another car. You are among a number of witnesses who stop and try to help those who are now in the midst of a tangle of metal and steam. The driver who caused the crash is alive. He is out of his car and talking and seems to be in shock as he realizes what has happened. In the other vehicle the driver was not as lucky, a young woman has been killed. With the information you have, what assumption would you make as to the cause of this crash? Many people immediately think that the driver must have had a few too many drinks in an early happy hour and was intoxicated. But there is another possibility - that he was just too tired to be behind the wheel. It could be that he had been not getting a full eight hours of sleep a night. On top of that, he may have had a stressful workweek, and his body was no longer able to keep going. If you think this scenario sounds far fetched, think again. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) there are approximately 100,000 crashes a year that are caused by drowsy driving. Approximately 71,000 people are injured as a result of drowsy driving. Sadly, 1,500 die. In some respects drowsy driving is very much like drunk driving. When it comes to drunk driving, once someone has a blood alcohol level over .08, they are considered legally drunk. Studies have shown that a driver who has gone a day without sleep is very similar to a driver with a blood alcohol level of 0.10%, well above the legal limit. Most car crashes in the United States do not involve alcohol. Most people in car crashes are wearing seat belts. While awareness of the dangers of alcohol and the need to buckle-up are important, drowsy driving remains an underappreciated danger.
If there is a situation that could lead to a crash, such as a vehicle that has stalled in the middle of a highway, which one of these situations is the most dangerous? Driver 1 – An alert, sober driver who notices the vehicle at the last minute, slams on the brakes, and has a mild to moderate impact with the stopped car, if any. Driver 2 – An intoxicated driver whose reactions are impaired by alcohol. They recognize the stopped car, but their reflexes are too slow to react. While the driver takes their foot off the gas pedal they are barely hitting the brake when they hit the stopped car leading to a serious collision. Driver 3 – A drowsy driver who has fallen asleep at the wheel. They have no knowledge that a car has stopped in front of them, and do not react until they crash into the vehicle, their foot still on the gas pedal. By far, the most serious wrecks are those caused by drowsy drivers, because there is often little to no attempt to avert the accident. Unfortunately, many people do not look upon drowsy driving as a serious problem. Chances are you can think of a number of times that you were a little groggy or downright exhausted but got behind the wheel thinking it was alright. But if you’d had too many drinks and knew you were intoxicated, you probably would have handed your keys to someone else to help you get home safely. Why do you choose to be safe in one case and not the other? It’s no surprise there are so many drowsy driving incidents when
you consider the number of people who get behind the wheel when they
are tired. 51 percent of drivers say in the past year they have experienced
feeling sleepy while driving. 17 percent admit having actually fallen
asleep at the wheel. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates there are 100,000 sleep-related crashes in the United States every year, with 1550 fatalities and 71,000 injuries. Related: Microsleep From the National Heart, Lung, and Blood InstituteDrowsy Driving and Automobile CrashesDrowsy driving is a serious problem that leads to thousands of automobile crashes each year. This report, sponsored by the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research (NCSDR) of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), is designed to provide direction to an NCSDR/NHTSA educational campaign to combat drowsy driving. The report presents the results of a literature review and opinions of the Expert Panel on Driver Fatigue and Sleepiness regarding key issues involved in the problem. Click here for report in PDF format DrowsyDriving.Org - Learn the signs of drowsy driving and countermeasures you can take to avoid excessive risk from driving while sleepy. From the National Sleep Foundation. The road to danger: the comparative risks of driving while sleepy. Changing Behaviors to Prevent Drowsy Driving and Promote Traffic Safety: Review of Proven, Promising, and Unproven Techniques - From the American Automobile Association Cornell University's Brake for Sleep Traffic crashes taking toll on youths Drowsy-Driving May Be as Deadly as Drunk Driving - Carfax press release The road to danger: the comparative risks of driving while sleepy. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Sleepiness among airplane pilots Singapore Airlines pilots research into ultra-long hauls Driving under the influence of sleeping pills - MSNBC story Drowsy Driving Still Underappreciated Countermeasures to drowsy driving Responsibility and the drowsy driver In Colorado, a couple companies have teamed in an interesting initiative to reduce the effects of apnea among truck drivers. The “Unite to Treat Sleep Apnea” program uses mobile diagnostic units loaded on trailers to get to the truckers and test them. The purpose is to let drivers know they have apnea and ways they can treat it so as to avoid drowsy driving incidents. Related: Pilot fatigue is a significant problem in both civilian and military aviation operations. Statistics indicate that fatigue is involved in 4–8% of aviation mishaps. That's why the regulatory bodies such as the Federal Aviation Administration have put in rules limiting flight hours and ensuring minimal periods of crew rest. Scheduling factors, sleep deprivation, circadian disruptions, and extended duty periods continue to challenge the alertness and performance levels of both short-haul and long-haul pilots and crews.
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ResourcesAvoiding Drowsy Driving
Countermeasures
Responsibility and the Drowsy Driver
Signs of Drowsiness when Driving
How Well Are You Sleeping? - FDA Consumer Article Circadian gene helps brain predict mealtime Sleep less, live longer? - Increased Death Rate
Associated Circadan Rythyms
"And miles to go before I sleep" (Robert Frost, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening)
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