Nearly twenty % of traffic fatalities include sleepy driving

Sleepy traveling not terribly safe, and rest areas are there for a reason. Grabbing a quick snooze at a rest area or in a Walmart parking lot can actually conserve lives. There had been a recent study which tallied up the cost of drowsy driving. Almost a fifth of all crashes that resulted in someone dying involved a sleepy driver. It also causes lots of injuries. It could be more widespread than believed.

Driving when drowsy has no good results

There is new info out about Drowsy Driving. The American Automobile Association conducted and released the study. 16.5% of fatal accidents involved a rest deprived driver. When someone had been hospitalized there had been a drowsy driver behind the wheel in 13.1% of accidents. A drowsy driver had been involved in 7 percent of all accidents where a vehicle is so damaged it has to be towed. Interestingly, men were two thirds of the sleepy drivers. 40 – 59-year olds were half as likely to get into an accident from drowsy driving as someone who’s 16-24. Of the accidents in the study, 57 percent involved a sleepy driver drifting through lanes or going off the road.

Is America sleeping enough?

There are many studies that show Americans rest less than in the past. Estimates have varied, but it is suggested that a lot of people sleep 7 hours or less per night, compared with the suggested 8 hours of rest per night. New Zealand conducted a study on drowsy driving in 2000. According to CNN the study showed that a sleepy driver had been a dangerous as a drunk driver. Regardless of that study, drunk driving still causes more fatalities than drowsy driving does drowsy driving still does not cause as numerous traffic fatalities as drunk driving does. Even so, the number of tired driver related deaths is still huge.

Play it safe

The risk of falling asleep behind the wheel, as outlined by the AAA study, diminishes 50 percent if a passenger is present. Get your caffeine in you, and pull over to rest in case you are sleepy. Also, get at least 8 hours of sleep before any long trip.

Details from

AAA Foundation

aaafoundation.org/multimedia/index.cfm?button=pressreleases

CNN

archives.cnn.com/2000/HEALTH/09/20/sleep.deprivation/