Drowsy driving
The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. (June 2023) |
Sleep-deprived driving (commonly known as tired driving, drowsy driving, or fatigued driving) is the operation of a
In the United States, 250,000 drivers fall asleep at the wheel every day, according to the Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School and in a national poll by the National Sleep Foundation, 54% of adult drivers said they had driven while drowsy during the past year with 28% saying they had actually fallen asleep while driving. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, drowsy driving is a factor in more than 100,000 crashes, resulting in 6,550 deaths and 80,000 injuries annually in the USA.[4]
When a person does not get an adequate amount of sleep, their ability to function is affected. As listed below, their coordination is impaired, have longer reaction time, impairs judgment, and memory is impaired.
Effects of sleep deprivation on driving performance
Sleep deprivation has been proven to affect driving ability mainly in four areas:[5]
- It impairs coordination.
- It causes longer reaction times.
- It impairs judgment.
- It impairs memory and ability to retain information.
Sufficient sleep before driving improves memory. Researchers recorded activity in the hippocampus during learning, and recorded from the same locations during sleep. The results were patterns that occurred during sleep resembled those that occurred during learning, except they were more rapid during sleep. Also, the amount of hippocampal activity during sleep correlated highly with a subsequent improvement in performance.[6] Signs that tell a driver of a need to stop and rest:
- Difficulty focusing, frequent blinking, or heavy eyelids
- Daydreaming; wandering/disconnected thoughts
- Trouble remembering last few miles driven or missing exits and street signs
- Yawning repeatedly/rubbing eyes
- Trouble keeping head up
- Drifting from lane to lane, tailgating, or hitting a shoulder or rumble strip
- Feeling restless and irritable[7]
Effects of sleep deprivation compared to the effects of alcohol while driving
Numerous studies have found that sleep deprivation can affect driving as much as (and sometimes more than) alcohol. British researchers have found that driving after 17 to 18 hours of being awake is as harmful as driving with a blood alcohol level of .05%, the legal limit in many European countries.[5] The MythBusters TV show dedicated a special episode "Tipsy vs. Tired" to exploring these findings and has confirmed that sleep deprivation can be more dangerous than driving with a BAC over the legal limit.
Crashes
A 2017
A 2002 fact sheet from the Nebraska Rural Health and Safety Coalition once posted on the
The reason that collisions involving drowsy driving are more or less likely to happen at different times of the day may have to do with
In commercial transportation and in the military
Sleep-deprived driving is a major problem in commercial transportation and in the military. 20% of commercial pilots and 18% of train operators have admitted to making a serious error due to fatigue.
Sleep deprivation was blamed as a major cause of the Selby rail crash in which 10 people died and 82 were injured.[15]
Physician reporting
Six US states require physicians to report patients who drive while impaired, including those who may be chronically sleep-deprived.
Government response
Governments had attempted to reduce sleep-deprived driving through education messages and by ingraining roads with dents, known as
See also
References
- ^ "1 in 24 report driving while drowsy". CNN. 4 January 2013. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
- ^ a b Peters, Robert D. "Effects of Partial and Total Sleep Deprivation on Driving Performance", US Department of Transportation, February 1999.
- ^ "Drowsy Driving Continues to be a Problem on the Roads" (PDF). AAA. 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
- ^ "Drowsy Driving". NHTSA. U.S. Department of Transportation. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
- ^ a b "Sleep deprivation as bad as alcohol impairment, study suggests". CNN. 20 September 2000. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
- ^ " Why Sleep? Why REM? Why Dreams?" edition=11. Belmont:Wadsworth, 2009. page 290. Print.
- ^ "Drowsy Driving". Utah Department of Public Safety. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
- PMID 28958002. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
- ^ National Center for Statistics and Analysis (October 2017). "Drowsy Driving 2015 (Crash•Stats Brief Statistical Summary. Report No. DOT HS 812 446". Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
- ^ AAA Foundation. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
- ^ NASD. "Sleep Deprivation: Causes and Consequences", Nebraska Rural Health and Safety Coalition.
- ^ Goodman, Daniel (13 June 2012). "15 Things You Should Know About Sleep". Business Insider. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
- ^ National Sleep Foundation. "White Paper - Drowsy Driving"
- ^ "H.R. 3095 - All Actions". United States Congress. 15 October 2013. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
- ^ "Selby crash driver 'had not slept'". CNN. London, England. November 28, 2001.
- ^ S2CID 43453501.
- ^ "Driver Reviver". NSW. 8 September 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2022.