After years of public education campaigns, everyone knows that drinking and driving don't mix. But scientists say that motorists, physicians and government officials all need to realize that sleepy drivers can be just as deadly as drunk drivers.
A survey of more than 1,000 Americans by the National Sleep Foundation found that 57 percent of the people they polled had driven while drowsy in the past year and 23 percent had fallen asleep at the wheel.
Drowsy drivers also display the same sorts of driving patterns as drunk drivers, as a 1996 survey by the American Automobile Association Foundation for Traffic Safety revealed. The survey of more than 100 state troopers and highway-patrol officers found that every officer polled had stopped a motorist who appeared drunk only to find out that the driver was extremely fatigued.
Danger signs for drowsy drivers:
Your eyes close or go out of focus by themselves.
You have trouble keeping your head up.
You can't stop yawning.
You have wandering, disconnected thoughts.
You don't remember the last few miles.
You drift between lanes, tailgate, or miss traffic signs.
You keep jerking the car back into the lane.
You have drifted off the road and narrowly missed crashing.
Source: AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety
Those at risk include:
Sleep-deprived drivers.
People who travel long distances without breaks.
Drivers who travel through the night or at other times when they are normally asleep.
People who drink alcohol or take medication that increases sleepiness.
People who drive alone.
Drivers on long, rural, boring roads.
Frequent travelers, such as business travelers.
Young people.
Shift workers.
Commercial truck drivers.
People with undiagnosed, untreated sleep disorders
Source: National Sleep Foundation
KNOW WHEN IT'S TIME TO PULL OVER!
Courtesy of Tomoko Hosaka of the Washington Post
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Your eyes close or go out of focus by themselves.