The 2002 National Sleep Foundation (NSF) Sleep in America Poll revealed that one-half of all American adult drivers-particularly young males-admit to driving drowsy in the past year, and almost one in five admit to having fallen asleep behind the wheel. The results are appalling.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates conservatively that each year drowsy driving "…is responsible for at least 100,000 automobile crashes, 71,000 injuries, and 1,550 fatalities." But among all the major factors that cause or contribute to crashes, like speeding, alcohol use, and weather situations, drowsiness is the most difficult for police and other crash investigators to detect and quantify.
Read More here: End the Tragedy of Drowsy Driving.
Not just on the highways:
A recent story in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune indicates that the pilot of the plane flight in which Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.) and others died on October 25 may have been sleep-deprived. The pilot, Richard Conry, had worked a late-night nursing shift before flying Sen. Wellstone, his wife, daughter, two aides and a campaign official on a 14-hour campaign trip. Dr. Mark Mahowald, director of the Minnesota Regional Sleep Disorder Center in Minneapolis, says the amount of sleep Conry got in the days before the fatal flight is an important element of the crash investigation, because fatigue contributes to up to one-third of all fatal transportation accidents.
Full Story Here: Wellstone Pilot May Have Been Sleep Deprived.
Take extra care on the highways this holiday season. Get ample sleep if you're driving anywhere and be extra cautious of potential danger. If you see someone driving erratically, blow your horn to alert other drivers then try to get the license number and alert authorities.
