Drowsy Driving Prevention

The National Sleep Foundation (NSF)  will launch Drowsy Driving Prevention Week, to take place November 5-11 (following the end of Daylight Saving Time). This is a campaign to save the lives of young drivers by raising their awareness of the dangers of drowsy driving.

“Most teens and college students have been educated about the dangers of driving while intoxicated, but many are woefully unaware that driving while tired can be just as dangerous,” says NSF chief executive officer Richard Gelula. “According to NSF’s 2006 Sleep in America poll, only one in five people (20%)  gets an optimal amount of sleep during the week, and more than half (51%) report having driven drowsy in the past year. Other research shows us that young people under the age of 25 are by far the largest at-risk group for these types of crashes.”

Car crashes are the #1 killer of teens in the U.S. Alcohol is often a factor in fatal crashes involving young people, but sleepiness also plays a significant role. Like alcohol, sleepiness slows reaction time and impairs judgment. A person who falls asleep, however, unlike a person who has been drinking, has no control of the vehicle and cannot take any measures to avoid a crash.

Some risk specifics
Most young people don’t get nearly enough sleep. The combination of sleepiness, driving inexperience, and lifestyle choices, including late-night driving, puts teens and young adults at high risk for drowsy driving and sleep-related crashes. Sufficient sleep time for young drivers is continually challenged by ongoing pressures of an academic workload, extracurricular activities, and early-morning school-start times.

The goal of NSF’s Drowsy Driving Prevention Week campaign is to educate teens about these risks before they’re on the roadways. The NSF seeks as well to build a network of advocates willing to work for drowsy driving prevention at the local and state levels.

NSF strategies
NSF’s recently redesigned website (www.drowsydriving.org) offers extensive resources about drowsy driving, including public policy, fact sheets, human interest stories, news features, and online communities. A memorial page is there, too, where friends and family members can post photos of and/or messages about loved ones lost in drowsy driving crashes. Importantly, there’s also an NSF Parent/Teen Safe Driver Contract—an agreement between young drivers and their parents to drive safely. And, much more is on the website.

By launching its Drowsy Driving Prevention Week, NSF hopes to raise public awareness of the signs of sleepiness behind the wheel, such as difficulty focusing, frequent blinking, yawning, heavy eyelids,  drifting from lane to lane, and not remembering the last few miles driven.

Advice for us all

• Get adequate sleep before you drive.
• Allow time for breaks on long trips—about every 2 hours or every 100 miles.
• Ask your passenger to stay awake during the drive to help you stay awake and to share the driving (the buddy system).
• Don’t drink alcohol, and be aware of the side effects of medication you may be taking, because they may include drowsiness.
• Drink some caffeine: The equivalent of 2 cups of coffee can increase alertness for several hours. But caffeine should not be relied upon to overcome sleep deprivation.

If sleepiness sets in while you’re driving, prevent a crash by pulling off the road to find a safe place to take a nap or sleep for the night.

This article is a collaboration between the National Sleep Foundation and Health monitor. For more information on sleep disorders, call the National Sleep Foundation at 202-347-3471 or visit its website at www.sleepfoundation.org.