Sleeping At the Wheel
The dangers of sleepiness when driving.
Sleepiness affects the ability to concentrate and maintain attention and vigilance particularly when physically inactive. These effects may expose the sleepy individual to potentially dangerous consequences, particularly in sedentary and monotonous situations such as while driving a vehicle. Sleepiness is a major contributing factor to road traffic accidents. Studies of motorway accidents indicate that 20 to 25% appear to be due to drivers falling asleep at the wheel and are these are particularly likely to occur in the early morning or mid afternoon.
Accidents in which the driver has fallen asleep tend to be particularly serious because of the lack of reaction of the driver to the impending collision. Furthermore, sleepy drivers report a high incidence of near-misses on the road while driving, which suggests that they have an awareness of the driving risks related to sleepiness short of being involved in an actual collision. A Gallup poll carried out by the British Sleep Foundation found that 19% of male drivers admitted to having fallen asleep while driving . Occupations such as long-haul truck driving are particularly associated with sleepiness while driving which may not be surprising given the time they spend on the road. These findings are particularly worrying because of the likelihood of a fatal accident where a large truck driven by a driver who falls asleep is involved. Many spectacular multiple vehicle collisions that have occurred on motorways have been traced to drivers falling asleep at the wheel.
US government figures indicate that 31% of lorry accidents in which the driver is killed are due to sleepiness.
Avoiding sleeping at the wheel.
All drivers should be made aware of the serious dangers of driving when sleepy and should take active measures to minimise the risks. Drivers should not start out at all if they are sleepy. Overnight drives are a particular danger and every effort should be made to have a sleep before setting out. If a driver becomes sleepy at the wheel they should stop and ideally another driver should take over. If this is impossible they should rest and take a nap. Research has shown that a short (10 - 20 minutes) nap can be refreshing in this situation. Indeed if one has to drive on, the best measure may be to stop, have a cup of a caffeine containing drink and then a 20 minute nap.
I have outlined to him the pathophysiology of the disorder and treatment options that are available. He will now proceed to a diagnostic sleep study. He has previously had microsleeps when driving a couple of years ago, but has put in place precautions since and has not had any issues of late. It is imperative that he continues to take very strict precautions when driving. He will also need to look at trying to increase his sleep hour
Statistics show 16- to 17-year-old driver death rates increase with each additional passenger, which is due to distracted driving. Taking your eyes off the road for 2 (two) seconds, at 60 mph, means you have driven blindly for half the length of a football field. The risk of fatality is 3.6 times higher, when they are driving with passengers than when alone. For many years, the correlation between driving behavior and age has interested highway safety researchers and administrators. It is general knowledge that the greatest risk of motor vehicle crash...
Given the highly disproportionate role that these people play in drunk driving incidents, injuries, and fatalities, it would be wise to put our focus on them. The chronic drunk drivers comprise only a small percentage of all the drivers, yet they cause the most accidents.
Every person who has gets behind the wheel of a motor vehicle will be involved in some sort of automobile collision at some point in his or her lifetime. Traffic accidents account for over twenty thousand deaths each year and more than ten times as many injuries. There are a number of factors that contribute to these types of collisions, however, new and evolving laws can account for a large portion of successful preventable measures. In order for laws to be changed or added for the purpose of safer roads and highways, lawmakers have to first look at what factors contribute to such unsafe conditions. The top five causes of automobile accidents that cause injury are distracted drivers, driver fatigue, drunk driving, speeding, and aggressive driving. Laws can be proposed to reduce and even eliminate each of these risks.
Do you know how many people die every day in the United States due to drunk driving? If not, here is the answer, approximately twenty-eight people die because of drunk driving. There is not a day that has gone by without having an auto accident relating intoxicated drivers and no days without an ambulance running on the street with emergency lights on chasing for victims. In 2014, 1.1 million drivers were arrested for driving under the influence and 9,967 people were killed in alcohol related crashes. Alcohol slows down the activity of the person’s central nervous system, including the brain which makes them react slower and reduce concentration while driving. In order for one to drive safe, he/she has to be sober and active without any distraction.
Evidence for this argument can be seen in the research performed by Williamson & Feyer (2000), which study the relative impairment of sleep deprivation in cognitive and motor performance. They found that fatigue caused by sleep deprivation plays an important role when driving. In fact, it can even compromise the accuracy and safety needed in the road. Furthermore, Rogé, Basheer, Pébayle, Hannachi & Muzet (2003) advocate that sleep deprivation can increase the levels of drowsiness and fatigue, which can cause deficiency when detecting signals or responding to stimulus in a driving simulator. Sleep is an important part of human health, which can help improve our ability to perform tasks. It can also be detrimental to both body and mind. It cannot only cause damage to us but to others. Therefore the effects of sleep play an important role when realizing to what extent it can damage performance and become a risk to
According to Wilson (2005), sleep deprivation can cause not only traffic accidents, but also medical conditions such as: obesity, type 2 diabetes, metabo...
Research has proven that it is difficult to concentrate on driving and talking at the same time. A recent British study showed that talking on a mobile phone while driving was more hazardous than operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. Tests conducted by scientists for UK-based insurance firm, Direct Line, involved 20 subjects using a driving simulator to test reaction times and driving performance and compared this to when drivers had too much to drink. The results showed drivers' reaction times were, on average, 30 percent slower when talking on a handheld mobile phone than when legally drunk - and nearly 50 percent slower than under normal driving conditions. The tests also showed that drivers talking on phones were less able than drunk drivers to maintain a constant speed, and they had greater difficulty keeping a safe distance from the car in front.
Again, it makes the headlines; an older driver causes a dangerous automobile crash. As the amount of elderly driving has increased in the past decade, the risk for others to be out on the road has increased. In 2012, there were 36 million licensed older drivers in the United States. (Federal Highway Administration, Department of Transportation (US)) As a 34% increase from 1999, it has been noted that seniors are driving past their ability by an average of 10 years. (Federal Highway Administration, Department of Transportation (US)). Elderly continue to drive despite the prominent physiological changes that worsen as they age. The amount of automobile collisions suggests that prevention must occur in order to make the roads safer. By examining older drivers’ medical complications, older drivers must be retested to be able to drive a vehicle.
The biggest problem with drunk driving by young adults is the high rate of traffic accidents. Although young drivers ages 16 through 25 makeup only 15% of U.S. licensed drivers, they constitute 30 percent of all alcohol-related driving fatalities. This is double the amount of licensed drivers in that age group. Inexperience with both drinking and driving may contribute to this disproportionate rate. Nationwide in 1996, people ages 15 to 24 died in fatal motor vehicle crashes and 45 percent of those deaths were a result of alcohol (NHTSA 4). So it comes to no surprise that traffic crashes are the leading cause of death in the United States for people younger than 25 (NCHS 98).
Drivers that take road trips and drivers happen to work late night shifts are the tops contributors to sleep related car crashes. People that plan on driving for long periods of time should stop once they feel too tired and get a hotel room.
"TEENS, SLEEP DEPRIVATION AND AUTOMOBILE CRASHES . N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2014 (Farm Bureau News)
Richard Petty once said “You’ll got home safe, so drive safe, and stay safe.” Being a racing legend, he is an advocate for safe driving to minimise the cases of road crushes that have been on the rise. He double up as the chairman of the Veterans’ Safe Driving Initiative, the initiative is aimed at guiding the veterans returning from deployment on safe driving tips. It is necessarily important since the infrastructure has changed over time. Another initiative is being run in Minnesota where the teens are guided on the important safe driving tips. Study shows that more crushes are likely to occur in teen driving than veteran driving. It is also evident that young drivers are more likely to cause a crush within six months of passing the driving test and young male are worse than the females in the field.
Lack of sleep may cause an accident. As you get drowsy, your reaction becomes slow as much as driving drunk.
The main distraction of driving is cell phones. Most adults and teens will engage in texting and driving. Due to the major issue of texting and driving many campaigns have been launched, one being launched by AT&T “when it comes to texting and driving, it can wait.” This campaign has many drivers take the pledge to no longer use their phone when driving, there is an available app that will send out automatic messages to anybody that sends a while the individual is driving. When someone is driving at the rate of 55 miles per hour for only 4.6 seconds, it will equal the length of a football field, 100 yards. So, even stopping full vision from the road for a few seconds will still risk serious danger. Another cause of distracted driving is being exhausted or tired, doing so will cause a much slower reaction time. The slower reaction time causes many of the accidents that happen when people are tired. Another possibility is falling asleep behind the wheel even for a few seconds you could drift, or swerv into another lane and hit another car causing a major or fatal car accident. When taking driving classes, the students within the class will hear the saying “stay alert, stay alive.” The final major distraction of driving is eating and drinking. One of the problems of eating and drinking while driving is that it causes both a visual and manual distraction. When removing your eyes from the road many dangers will be