Truck Topics
Tired Driving - Facts and Stats
According to the National Sleep Foundation (NSF), one-half of adult drivers (100 million drivers), say they have driven a vehicle while feeling drowsy in the past year, and almost two in 10 people (14 million drivers), have actually fallen asleep at the wheel.
This marks the fifth consecutive year that approximately one-half or more of adult drivers admit to driving while drowsy or sleepy in NSF's annual poll.
Approximately two million drivers admit they have had an accident because they dozed off or were too tired to drive. These figures come from NSF's recently released "2002 Sleep in America" poll.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that 100,000 police-reported crashes are caused by driver fatigue annually. This results in:
-An estimated 1,550 deaths
-71,000 injuries
-$12.5 billion in losses
The consequences of tired driving crashes can include high personal and economic costs. Several drowsy driving incidents have resulted in jail sentences for the driver.
Multi-million dollar settlements have been awarded to families of crash victims as a result of lawsuits filed against individuals as well as businesses whose employees were involved in drowsy driving crashes.
"We are definitely on a collision course in this country," says Richard L. Gelula, NSF's executive director. "More and more drivers are on the road, and millions of them get behind the wheel feeling sleepy, apparently without considering the inherent dangers they pose to themselves and others."
"This is a wake-up call to everyone who drives a motor vehicle or rides in a car, truck or bus: driving while feeling drowsy or fatigued is a lethal combination, and is no less an impairment than driving while drunk," he adds.
Because there is not a test to determine sleepiness as there is for intoxication, it's difficult to attribute crashes to sleepiness. Add to that, there are reporting consistencies between different states. For example, six states still do not have a code for sleepiness in their reporting systems.
Sleep deprivation and fatigue make lapses of attention more likely to occur, and may play a role in behavior that can lead to crashes attributed to other causes.
Some other figures from the poll:
-Adults between 18-29 are much more likely to drive while drowsy compared to other age groups (71% vs. 30-64, 52% vs. 65+, 19%).
-Men are more likely than women to drive while drowsy (56% vs. 45%) and are almost twice as likely as women to fall asleep while driving (22% vs. 12%).
-Adults with children in the household are more likely to drive drowsy than those without children (59% vs. 45%).
-Nearly three-quarters of adults in America (71%) drive a car to and from work, and many are drowsy drivers, according to NSF's 2001 Sleep in America poll. More than one-fourth of these respondents (27%) said they have driven drowsy to or from work at least a few days a month, 12 percent drove drowsy a few days a week, and four percent said they drove drowsy every day or almost every day.
-Shift workers are more likely than those who work a regular daytime schedule to drive to or from work drowsy at least a few days a month (36% vs. 25%).
-42 percent of those polled said they become stressed, 32 percent get impatient and 12 percent tend to drive faster.
-One in five drivers (22%) said they pull over to nap when driving drowsy. Older adults are more likely to pull over and nap than younger drivers, who are most likely to drive when drowsy and least likely to pull over and nap.
People tend to fall asleep more on high-speed, long, boring and rural highways. However, those who live in urban areas are more likely to doze off while driving compared to people in rural or suburban areas (24% vs. 17%).
When drowsy, 42% of those polled said they become stressed, 32% get impatient and 12% tend to drive faster.
"One of the most alarming findings in the 2002 Sleep in America poll is that so many people stay on the roads without stopping in spite of feeling sleepy, or even dozing off at the wheel," says NSF's Gelula. More than one-half (59%) of the drowsy drivers admit they did not stop because of their sleepiness.
Most crashes or near misses occur between 4:00 - 6:00 a.m.; midnight - 2:00 a.m. and 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. are also peak times for crashes to occur. Nearly one-quarter of adults (23%) say they know someone personally who has crashed due to falling asleep at the wheel.
According to a study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, people who sleep six to seven hours a night are twice as likely to be involved in such a crash as those sleeping 8 hours or more, while people sleeping less than 5 hours increased their risk four to five times.
A study by researchers in Australia showed that being awake for 18 hours produced an impairment equal to a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .05, and .10 after 24 hours; .08 is considered legally drunk.
Other research indicates commercial drivers and people with undiagnosed sleep disorders such as sleep apnea and acute insomnia are also at greater risk for fall asleep crashes.
A strong connection between the quantity and quality of sleep and drowsy driving is apparent in the poll findings:
One-quarter of those who rate their sleep as fair/poor are much more likely to drive drowsy than those who say their sleep is good or excellent (25% vs. 12% - 3%).
Respondents reporting they sleep less than the minimum they need to be fully alert the next day are more likely to doze off at the wheel than those who sleep enough or more than necessary to be fully alert (23% vs. 13% -16%).
Warning signs of fatigue while driving
There are several signs to indicate fatigue while driving, Gelula notes, though many people may not associate the symptoms with fatigue or sleepiness and continue to drive when they should stop. Here are some signs that should tell a driver to stop and rest.
Preventing a fall-asleep crash
The National Sleep Foundation says the best way to prevent a fall-asleep crash is to plan ahead and get plenty of sleep before hitting the road. If you start to feel tired while driving, stop or have a driving companion take over.
If you are not stopping for the night, find a safe, well-lit area and take a 15-20 minute nap. Caffeine from coffee or energy drinks can promote short-term alertness, but it takes about 30 minutes for it to enter the bloodstream. Blasting a radio, opening a window and similar "tricks" to stay awake do not work.
Sixty percent of parents with children who drive living in the household said they have not discussed the dangers of falling asleep at the wheel. In the 2002 poll, nearly all respondents (96%) agreed that information about driving while drowsy should be included in tests for a driver's license.
"NSF's 2002 Sleep in America poll shows that more than one-half of the adults in this country admit to driving while drowsy; seventeen percent say they actually fell asleep at the wheel in the past year. That's more than 100 million people putting themselves and others at grave risk for injury or even death," said Gelula, NSF's executive director.
"With so many people endangered by drowsy driving, it is urgent that a national plan be developed to substantially reduce the risk and exposure to this threat."
Web Information
National Sleep Foundation Homepage