Dangers of Drowsy Driving

November 9th, 2014  |  Auto Insurance

60% of adult drivers say they have driven a vehicle while feeling drowsy in the past year, and more than one-third have actually fallen asleep at the wheel! 

- National Sleep Foundation’s 2005 Sleep in America poll

There has been a lot of attention placed on the dangers of drinking and driving and distracted driving. They are two of the most dangerous driving habits. However, there is another dangerous driving habit that often gets overlooked – drowsy driving.

Driving while tired is a more serious issue than most give it credit for. Lack of sleep has a significant impact on your ability to function properly, let alone operate a vehicle. It significantly impacts your motor skills and also has an impact on your decision making and reaction time when behind the wheel.

THE PROBLEM

The main problem with drowsy driving is most drivers underestimate the risk of driving while tired and overestimate their ability to drive when fatigued. Measuring the tiredness of a driver is difficult to determine, and people feel tired all the time – making it tough to determine where to draw the line.

There is no test to determine your level of sleepiness and there is no doubt that self-reporting is not a reliable form of measuring if you are okay to drive or not. Often, we don’t realize how tired we are and it seems to “hit us” suddenly.

While people are usually conscious of their level of tiredness when driving for long periods of time, other situations such as people on shift work, lack of sleep, and a variety of other situations in life can all impact your ability to drive.

The other thing that people often assume is that drowsy driving and potentially falling asleep at the wheel only happens late at night. The truth is that it can happen at night, in the morning, and any other time of the day.  

THE STATS

Still not convinced about the dangers of drowsy driving? Check out some of these statistics from DrowsyDriving.org:

• More than one in five fatal crashes every year involves driver fatigue.
• Drowsy driving causes more than 100,000 crashes a year, resulting in results in an estimated 1,550 deaths, 71,000 injuries, and $12.5 billion in monetary losses - NHTSA.
• While 95 percent of drivers admitted that it is unacceptable to drive when they are tired, 28 percent admitted to doing so within the last month.
• Adults between 18-29 are much more likely to drive while drowsy compared to other age groups.
• 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 - study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.
• Men are more likely than women to drive while drowsy and are almost twice as likely as women to fall asleep while driving - NSF’s 2002 poll.

9 Drowsy Driving Warning Signs

Being aware of your level of tiredness is vital, especially if you plan on driving. It’s important for drivers to be conscious of the warning signs of being tired and driving while drowsy. If you experience any of the following warning signs, it’s time for you to pull over and take a break from driving:

1. Having difficulty focusing
2. Having trouble keeping your eyes open
3. Having wandering thoughts
4. Making cognitive mistakes
5. Having issues judging depth
6. The inability to remember the last few kilometers driven
7. Repeated yawning
8. Missing traffic signs
9. Swerving out of your lane

Learn More About the Dangers of Drowsy Driving

Why you need to avoid driving when you are tired

Obvious and not so obvious high risk driving behaviours