Drowsy Driving - Stay Alert, Arrive Alive » drowsy driving

Getting Enough Sleep Can Save Your Life on the Roads

sleepfoundation — Tue, 25 May 2010 17:11:13 +0000

Less than half of Americans say they get a good night’s sleep every night. Combine excessive sleepiness with an automobile, a long drive, and the one of the heaviest travel weekends of the year, and our risk for a fall-asleep crash increases significantly. In fact, 28% of American drivers have admitted to falling asleep at the wheel, according to a recent National Sleep Foundation poll, and more than half (54%) said they have driven while drowsy.

“People think they can judge the precise time they are too tired and don’t realize that ‘drowsy driving’ is a serious danger,” says David Cloud, CEO of the National Sleep Foundation. “They don’t know that it’s possible to fall into a 3-4 second microsleep without realizing it. Traveling at 65 MPH, that’s enough time to travel the length of a football field basically unconscious.”

Even if you manage to stay awake, sleepiness causes slower reaction times, vision impairment, lapses in judgment and delays in processing information, which are all critical elements for safe driving practices. “Getting enough sleep can literally save your life,” adds Cloud.

Prevent a fall-asleep crash by getting enough sleep the night before and by knowing the warning signs of sleepiness and using appropriate countermeasures.

Warning Signs: Feeling Sleepy? Stop Driving!

If you start to do the following, it’s time to get off the road. Find a safe place to pull over:

Have problems focusing, blink frequently and/or have heavy eyelids;
Drift from your lane, swerve, tailgate and/or hit rumble strips;
Have trouble remembering the last few miles driven;
Miss exits or traffic signs;
Have trouble keeping your head up;
Yawn repeatedly;
Or finding yourself rolling down the windows or turning up the radio.

National Sleep Foundation’s Countermeasures to Prevent Fall-Asleep Crashes

Get a good night’s sleep before you hit the road. You’ll want to be alert for the drive, so be sure to get adequate sleep (seven to nine hours) the night before you go.
Don’t be too rushed to arrive at your destination. Many drivers try to maximize the holiday weekend by driving at night or without stopping for breaks. It’s better to allow the time to drive alert and arrive alive.
Use the buddy system. Just as you should not swim alone, avoid driving alone for long distances. A buddy who remains awake for the journey can take a turn behind the wheel and help identify the warning signs of fatigue.
Take a break every 100 miles or 2 hours. Do something to refresh yourself like getting a snack, switching drivers, or going for a run.
Take a nap—find a safe place to take a 15 to 20-minute nap, if you think you might fall asleep. Be cautious about excessive drowsiness after waking up.
Avoid alcohol and medications that cause drowsiness as a side-effect.
Avoid driving at times when you would normally be asleep.
Consume caffeine. The equivalent of two cups of coffee can increase alertness for several hours.

For more information about sleep and safety, visit the National Sleep Foundation’s Web site at sleepfoundation.org.

People with Apnea More Vulnerable to Effects of Alcohol

sleepfoundation — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 18:20:50 +0000

Drinking and driving is always dangerous. Add a life-threatening sleep disorder and you have a recipe for disaster. According to a study in the Annals of Internal Medicine, patients with obstructive sleep apnea are more vulnerable than healthy people to the effects of alcohol while driving. The study, conducted by researchers at the Adelaide Institute for Sleep Health in Australia, followed 38 untreated patients with sleep apnea and 20 control participants. The participants were either allowed to sleep unrestricted, had their sleep restricted to four hours or ingested enough vodka to achieve a blood alcohol level of 0.05 g/dL. They then took part in a driving simulator that measured steering deviation, crashes and braking reaction time. The study found that patients with sleep apnea experienced a 40 percent increase in steering deviation compared with the control group. Patients with sleep apnea also crashed more frequently than control participants after normal sleep and even more after restricted sleep or alcohol consumption compared with the control group. If left untreated, symptoms of sleep apnea can include disturbed sleep and excessive sleepiness during the day. If you suspect you may have sleep apnea, the first thing to do is see your doctor.

Read the abstract.
Learn more about Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Sleep.

Today Show Looks at Drowsy Teen Drivers

sleepfoundation — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 19:20:00 +0000

The Today Show recently featured a segment on drowsy driving among teenagers. According to the National Sleep Foundation’s 2006 Sleep in America poll, 51 percent of all adolescents who drive reported that they had driven drowsy at least once in the past year. Among those adolescents, 5 percent had nodded off or fallen asleep while driving in the past year, and 27 percent of those respondents had an accident or near accident due to drowsiness while driving. The Today Show segment notes that fatigue is a factor in about 100,000 crashes every year, most involving young drivers. National Sleep Foundation Chairman Thomas J. Balkin, PhD, told the Today Show, “In many ways, driving drowsy is very much like driving drunk.” According to Balkin, drowsiness — like alcohol — can severely impair a driver’s reflexes, judgment and awareness.

Learn more about driving and fatigue at DrowsyDriving.org.

Former Foundation Secretary Appointed to NTSB

sleepfoundation — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 15:44:05 +0000

The president has designated former National Sleep Foundation Secretary Christopher A. Hart as the National Transportation Safety Board’s new vice chairman, according to a press release by the agency. Hart, who served on the National Sleep Foundation’s board from 1999 to 2008, also formerly served as deputy director for the Federal Aviation Administration Office of Air Traffic Safety Oversight and FAA Assistant Administrator for System Safety, where he was responsible for identifying and addressing key safety issues and emerging trends affecting aviation safety. Hart was sworn in as a member of the NTSB on August 12 to a term that ends December 31, 2012. According to the press release, his term as vice chairman will run for two years.

NTSB Makes Recommendations on Sleep Apnea

sleepfoundation — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 19:33:07 +0000

The National Transportation Safety Board has issued six recommendations to the Federal Aviation Agency regarding pilot fatigue and obstructive sleep apnea after concluding an investigation of two pilots who fell asleep during a February 2008 flight. The pilots were flying from Honolulu to Hilo, Hawaii, when they fell asleep and flew past the plane’s destination, traveling another 26 miles before waking up. In a letter to the FAA dated Aug. 7, NTSB ruled the flight crew’s recent shift schedules and the captain’s undiagnosed obstructive sleep apnea contributed to the incident. Obstructive sleep apnea is a disorder in which breathing is briefly and repeatedly interrupted during sleep. The “apnea” in sleep apnea refers to a breathing pause that lasts at least 10 seconds. In the letter, NTSB makes the following recommendations:

Pilots should be screened for sleep disorders during medical certification.
More research should be conducted on fatigue in short-haul flight operations.
Any information from research on fatigue should be made available to flight crews working short-haul flights.
Guidance from research should be included in operators’ operating specifications.
The FAA should implement a program to identify pilots at high risk for sleep apnea.
Guidance should be made available for pilots, employers and physicians regarding the identification and treatment of individuals at high risk of sleep apnea.

Read NTSB’s recommendations, or learn more about sleep apnea.

Post Article Examines ‘Crash Pads’

sleepfoundation — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 19:42:00 +0000

A recent article in the Washington Post looked at crash pads, makeshift homes used as an inexpensive housing option for regional airline flight crews struggling to pay rent away from home. Crash pad owners told the Post that these dorm-like housing arrangements — accommodating 10 to 30 people at one time — are concentrated in cities with major airline operations fed by regional carriers. The article states that most crash pad tenants claim to have sleep issues and abnormal body clocks, attributed to sharing a room with co-workers and their constantly changing flight schedules. Sleep research has shown that sleeping too little can not only inhibit your productivity and ability to remember and consolidate information, but lack of sleep can also lead to serious health consequences and jeopardize your safety and the safety of individuals around you. Historic tragedies have been linked to fatigue-related human error, among them the Exxon Valdez oil spill and the NASA Challenger shuttle explosion. According to the Department of Transportation, the last six fatal commercial aviation accidents in the U.S. involved regional air carriers, citing excessive pilot fatigue as a contributing factor.

Read the Post article.
Read about the Sleep-Wake Cycle: Its Physiology and Impact on Health.

Countermeasures: Stop for the Night

sleepfoundation — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 15:06:04 +0000

Find a safe place to stop for a break or for the night. If you plan on napping longer than 30 minutes, your best option is to choose a safe rest stop or motel, allowing you to get 7 to 9 hours of sleep. This is the recommended amount of sleep for adults and will leave you feeling recovered, refreshed and well-rested the next day on the road. If possible, request a cool and quiet room away from elevators, ice machines or busy roads in order to avoid late-night noise.

Countermeasures: Rumble Strips

sleepfoundation — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 19:33:44 +0000

If you hit a shoulder rumble strip, pull off the road as soon as possible. Rumble strips are deep grooves placed on high-speed roads utilized by highway authorities to alert drowsy drivers and prevent them from veering off the roadway. They were first introduced on the New Jersey Turnpike in 1952 and have proven to be one of the most effective measures in decreasing drowsy driving.

Countermeasures: Taking a Nap

sleepfoundation — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 19:32:07 +0000

Pull off into a safe, well-lit area away from traffic and take a brief nap: 15-20 minutes is best. Short naps can help improve mood, performance and short-term alertness. If you plan on napping longer than 20 to 30 minutes, you may want to consider finding a safe place to get a full night’s rest – 7 to 9 hours for adults – before resuming driving. Longer naps may result in sleep inertia, leaving you groggy and disoriented, which can be detrimental to driving.

Countermeasures: Caffeine

sleepfoundation — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 18:43:15 +0000

If you become drowsy while driving, recognize that you are in danger of falling asleep and pull over. Coffee or another type of caffeine drink can promote short-term alertness, if needed. Just be aware that it takes about 30 minutes for caffeine to enter the bloodstream.

Caffeine is also available in soft drinks, chewing gum and tablets. Caffeine and a nap together offer short-term benefits. Keep in mind that caffeine won’t have much of an effect on people who consume it regularly.