health and fitness: Do we take driving while drowsy seriously enough?

lundi 23 novembre 2015

Do we take driving while drowsy seriously enough?

Twenty per cent of crashes involve a driver who falls asleep at the wheel, so what are the best ways to avoid the risk?

Driving when you are drowsy can be as dangerous as having a few drinks, says the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Which is a worry, because a recent American Automobile Association Foundation for Traffic Safety report found that 10% of US drivers admitted falling asleep behind the wheel, while a 2011 UK survey of 1,000 drivers by Brake, the road safety charity, found that one in eight drivers had nodded off for up to 30 seconds.

Drowsiness, like alcohol, makes you less alert, slows your reaction times and means you are more likely to have an accident even if you don’t actually fall asleep. About one in five crashes in which a person is killed involves a drowsy driver. Driving while drowsy usually occurs at high speeds, is most common in men between 16 and 24 years of age and occurs most often between 11pm and 8am. The car typically veers off the road and the driver isn’t alert enough to brake.