Insurance Machine

Myths and facts with regard to driving while drowsy

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, drowsy driving leads to more than 10,000 crashes each year, including 40,000 injuries and 1,550 deaths. What was however, found to be of additional concern was the fact that the Liberty Mutual/SADD survey found that a large percentage of teen drivers report that they often rely on other more often than not ineffective activities - some even distracting or hazardous - to help combat symptoms of drowsiness. These include:

? Listening to loud music (49 percent)
? Talking with others in the car (45 percent)
? Opening up of the window (27 percent)
? Using their cell phone (22 percent)
? Drinking energy type drinks (19 percent)
? Drinking coffee (14 percent)
? Driving over the limit (11 percent)
? Text messaging on their cell phone (11 percent)

Of all of these measures, the National Sleep Foundation only counts caffeine - such as coffee or energy drinks - as acting as a possible countermeasure for avoiding falling asleep at the wheel. However, although it may be true that the equivalent of two cups of coffee may
increase driving alertness for several hours, it should not be counted on as a means for overcoming sleep deprivation.

Survey director Dave Melton, who is the director of Transportation Technical Consulting Services at the Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety in Hopkinton, Mass, said that they know that these methods are not reliable for either adults or teens. He adds that sleep loss or fatigue is known to impair driving skills such as hand-eye coordination, physical reaction time, vision, awareness of surroundings, and spatial judgment.

In fact, according to the National Sleep Foundation, drowsy driving can be just as hazardous as impaired driving. Unlike in the case of an impaired driver, a person who falls asleep while at the wheel, has no control whatsoever of the vehicle, being totally unable to take any measures to avoid a crash. Altogether, there is a combination of hazardous factors including inexperience, sleepiness, and lifestyle choices including a tendency to drive at night and in the early morning hours that puts young adults at risk.

The main thing is prevention

The best antidote to drowsy driving is getting sufficient sleep. In order to be fully rested, the National Sleep Foundation recommends that teens should be getting at least between 8.5 and 9.5 hours of sleep. But the reality is that because of classes, after school activities, and social lives, in most cases teens are getting much less. According to the Liberty Mutual/SADD study in reality teens are getting an average of 7.4 hours of sleep per night. On school nights the average is even less being 7.2 hours (Sunday night through Thursday night).