"The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration conservatively estimates that 100,000 police-reported crashes are the direct result of driver fatigue each year. This results in an estimated 1,550 deaths, 71,000 injuries, and $12.5 billion in monetary losses. These figures may be the tip of the iceberg, since currently it is difficult to attribute crashes to sleepiness."
Don't Drink and Drive!
Don't take Drugs and Drive!
Don't Drive Drowsy!
100,000 crashes each year are caused by fatigued drivers.
55% of drowsy driving crashes are caused by drivers less than 25 years old.
Being awake for 18 hours is equal to a blood alcohol level of 0.08% (legally drunk) and leaves you at risk of a crash.
Highest Risk Drivers:
- Under the age of 25 - especially males.
- Third Shift Workers
- People that drive a lot of miles each day.
- People with Sleep Disorders
- Commercial Drivers - Especially long-haul drivers. Approximately 15% of crashes by long-haul drivers is caused by fatigue.
- People that take prescription medications with sedatives
STOP when you show signs of fatigue: Impaired reaction time, judgment and vision.
- Daydreaming or wandering thoughts.
- Uncontrollable Yawning
- Eyes closing or blinking, burning or going out of focus
- Do you remember the last few miles that you drove? Do you have a problem with, information processing or short term memory?
- Are you drifting lanes? Can your driving be mistaken for a drunk driver?
Safety Tips
- Get regular sleep
- If you have symptoms of above, Pull of the Road. Stop! Park in a well lit safe place and take a short nap.
- You shouldn't be driving between 12am and 6 am. We all hope you are sleeping!
- Keep the car cool
- Don't eat a heavy meal when your tired and planning to drive for a longer length of time.
Caffeine -- does it help?
Caffeine promotes short-term alertness. It takes about 30 minutes for caffeine to begin working so the best thing to do is pull over for a coffee or other caffeinated beverage, take a short nap, and then get back on the road. Keep in mind that caffeine won't have much of an effect on people who consume it regularly.
According to the National Sleep Foundation's 2005 Sleep in America poll, 60% of adult drivers - about 168 million people - say they have driven a vehicle while feeling drowsy in the past year, and more than one-third, (37% or 103 million people), have actually fallen asleep at the wheel! In fact, of those who have nodded off, 13% say they have done so at least once a month. Four percent - approximately eleven million drivers - admit they have had an accident or near accident because they dozed off or were too tired to drive.
Comments(1)