Drowsy
driving is a serious problem that leads to thousands
of automobile crashes each year.
According
to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
(NHTSA), drowsy driving causes more than 100,000 crashes
a year, resulting in 40,000 injuries and 1,550 deaths.
As tragic as these numbers are, they only tell a portion
of the story. It is widely recognized that drowsy
driving is underreported as a cause of crashes. And
this doesn't include incidents caused by driver inattention.
Drowsy
driving is all too common, especially among young
men aged 25 and under. Night workers who rotate their
schedules are also at high risk. Others at risk include
people who regularly drive long distances and those
who have sleep disorders. The highest risk times of
day for drowsy driving accidents to occur is in the
mid-afternoon and overnight hours.
NHTSA
statistics also show that normalized accident rates
vary during the course of the 24-hour day and mirror
daily human alertness patterns. Accident rates have
a peak in the mid-afternoon, when alertness dips,
and an even higher peak in the overnight hours between
2 and 6 a.m., when alertness is at its lowest point
of the day.
In
1996, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
(NHTSA) embarked on an effort to reduce the effects
that fatigue and driver inattention have on highway
safety. While everyone is susceptible to drowsy-driving
crashes, shift workers run a particularly high risk.
Their natural sleep patterns are disrupted by working
nights or long and irregular hours.
Countermeasures
for drowsy driving aim either to prevent it or to
ameliorate it after it occurs. The panel concluded
that preventing drowsiness with adequate sleep before
driving is both easier and much more successful than
any remedial measure reviewed. Methods of obtaining
adequate sustained sleep include creating a positive
sleep environment (a room that is cool, quiet, and
dark) and sleeping at regularly scheduled times. Such
measures are often promoted as "sleep hygiene"
and make intuitive sense; however, few rigorous studies
support all sleep hygiene claims.
The
panel noted that the wake-up effects from remedial
approaches to existing sleepiness do not last long.
At best they can help sleepy drivers stay awake and
alert long enough to find a motel, call for a ride,
or stop driving and sleep. They are not a substitute
for good sleep habits and should not be viewed as
a "driving strategy" that can get drowsy
drivers safely to their destination.
Labeled with ICRA