Drowsy Driving – Not Worth the Risk
Driving – especially when driving a long road alone – can make you very sleepy, especially when you’re already sleep deprived.
The endless open space of the road. The monotonous voices of highways alike. The same song on the radio again. Driving – especially when driving a long road alone – can make you very sleepy, especially when you’re already sleep deprived.
But being sleepy behind the wheel is not only something annoying that you can overcome or a challenge you can fight using force. Your reaction time is substantially longer when you’re tired that could potentially cause accidents with lethal consequences. In the United States, drowsy driving causes at least 100 000 car crashes in a year, injuring 40 000 and killing 1500 people.
Although most people wouldn’t brag about drunk driving, 55 percent of Americans admit to drowsy driving. And the truth is that these two are not so different. Scrimping just couple of hours at the expense of sleep could influence some drivers like a few extra cocktails. And after just one sleepless night, the reaction time of the driver is similar to that of a person whose blood alcohol level is 0,1 percent. The daunting difference is that while a drunk driver is slow, when you fall asleep behind the wheel – even if it’s just for a couple of seconds and called microsleep – the driver might not even put on the brakes or swing, increasing the likelihood of an accident with lethal consequences even more.
Whereas late night driving is most dangerous as your body is naturally fighting sleep, sleeping too little regularly might put you in danger every time you’re behind the wheel. Let’s look at the most common risk factors of accidents with drowsy driving and what you could do about them.
DRIVING AT NIGHT
It’s no wonder that driving when your body thinks it’s time to sleep is already fighting a lost battle. Most accidents during the hours of midnight to 8 a.m. To avoid this, you should take your drives during daylight time, or when you’re forced to drive at night, make sure your need for sleep is satisfied beforehand.
DRIVING ALONE
Driving alone not only seems harder, but it actually is. There’s no-one to talk to, no-one to share being behind the wheel with, and no-one who would point out signs of drowsy driving like yawning, getting too close to the car in front of you, or drifting from your lane. It’s also riskier. Nearly 82 percent of accidents happened during drowsy driving are caused by single drivers.
DRINKING SOMETHING
Drowsiness and alcohol are a dangerous combination – potentially deadlier than either of them alone. And you don’t need to drink that much. Just one beer after only four hours of sleep is the same as a person who’s had six beers and slept well.
DRIVING AFTER A NIGHTSHIFT (OR THROUGH SEVERAL TIME ZONES)
Tricking your body’s clock by working at night or travelling across time zones might make the driver susceptible to falling asleep behind the wheel. You might not be able to change your schedule, but taking regular breaks to rest and exercise and using bright lights could help to change your sleeping rhythm. Maintaining a regular schedule, if possible, could also help to achieve healthier sleeping habits and pass your journey safely.
FEELING INVINCIBLE
Opening the windows, drinking an extra-large coffee, and listening to loud music might seem like good tricks to keep yourself awake, but there’s no proof that these really work. When you feel getting sleepy, one characteristic sign is that you don’t remember the last kilometers driven – the best solution is to pull over and sleep for 20 minutes. After all, it’s better to arrive and be alive despite being late.
Image author: Johan Funke
