Sleepy driving at fault in seventeen of 100 vehicle traffic fatalities

Rest areas exist for a reason, and drowsy traveling is dangerous. We’ve all heard to pull over for a snooze if feeling tired powering the wheel. It isn’t just an old wives’ tale. Just under twenty % of fatal vehicle traffic accidents involved a sleepy driver in some way. As a practice, it’s also a little more common than one might think.

Drowsy Driving can result in death

There is new information out about Drowsy Driving. The American Automobile Association conducted and released the study. Drowsy driving had been involved in 16.5 percent of fatal accidents. A driver behind the wheel while tired had been also involved in 13.1 percent of accidents where a victim had been hospitalized. in 7 percent of accidents involving a required towing there had been a drowsy driver. Males were two-thirds of sleep deprived drivers in accidents. Age played a role also. In case you are 16 – 24 years old you are twice as likely to get into an incident from drowsy driving than if you are 40-59 years old. The main ways the accidents occurred had been by drifting into other lanes or driving off the one entirely. This accounted for 57 percent of the accidents.

Americans sleeping less

There are many studies that show Americans sleep less than within the past. Estimates have varied, but it is suggested that many people sleep 7 hours or less per night, in contrast to the suggested 8 hours of sleep per night. New Zealand conducted a study on drowsy driving in 2000. According to CNN the study showed that a sleepy driver was a dangerous as a driver who is drunk. Regardless of that study, drunk driving still causes more fatalities than drowsy driving does drowsy driving still doesn’t cause as numerous traffic fatalities as drunk driving does. Deaths caused by drowsy drivers is still insanely high.

How to avoid it

The risk of falling asleep behind the wheel, according to the AAA study, diminishes 50 percent if a passenger is present. Pull over and discover somewhere to rest if you feel drowsy, and grab some coffee or a caffeinated drink. Also, get at least 8 hours of sleep before any long trip.

Articles cited

AAA Foundation

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

CNN

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