Driving While Drowsy

Most of us know that sleep is essential to our health, energy level, and attentiveness. Yet millions of people simply don't get enough sleep each night. The National Sleep Foundation (NSF) reports that nearly two-thirds of American adults experience a sleep problem a few nights a week or more. In fact, 43 percent of adults say they are so sleepy during the day that it interferes with their daily activities a few days a month or more. This lack of sleep can be especially hazardous on the road.

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that fatigued drivers contribute to approximately 100,000 highway crashes, causing 71,000 injuries and 1,500 deaths each year.

Like drugs and alcohol, sleepiness contributes to collisions because it slows reaction time, decreases awareness, and impairs judgment. The NSF reports that sleepy drivers are more tense and impatient and may even be driving faster when they should really be stopping to rest. Research also shows that sleep-related crashes are most common in younger drivers since young people tend to stay up later, sleep too little, and drive at night.

The best strategy to cope with fatigue while on the road is simply to pull over in a safe place and take a short nap. However, according to the NSF, only a small percentage of drivers report doing that. The majority of drivers look to caffeine for relief from fatigue, but stimulants like caffeine are no substitute for sleep. While drinking a cup of coffee or a can of soda may help you feel more alert, the effects are temporary. In fact, even if you drink coffee, if you are seriously sleep-deprived, you may experience "micro-sleeps"-brief naps that last only four or five seconds. At 55 miles an hour, you can travel more than 100 yards while you're taking that five-second nap.

Danger Signals for Drowsy Drivers

According to the NSF, here are a few ways to tell if you're about to fall asleep. If you experience any of these danger signs, take them as a warning that you could fall asleep without meaning to, so it's best to pull off the road and take a nap.

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 driving 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.

Six Ways to Stay Alert Behind the Wheel

The National Sleep Foundation offers these tips to help you stay awake while driving:

Get a good night's sleep each night. (Sleep experts recommend at least eight hours of sleep a night in order to function properly, yet a full third of American adults sleep six hours or less nightly during the work week.)
Learn to recognize and pay attention to the warning signs of fatigue. Take a break if you experience wandering or disconnected thoughts, yawn repeatedly, have difficulty focusing or keeping your eyes open, or find yourself missing traffic signs or tailgating other drivers.
Don't count on tricks like turning up the radio or opening the window for fresh air to keep you awake-these things will help for only a short while.
If you're planning on driving a long distance, drive during the time of the day when you are normally awake.
If possible, have someone accompany you and talk with that person while driving. It's a good idea for your passenger to stay awake, too, so that he or she can let you know if you are showing signs of sleepiness.
On longer trips, schedule a break (in a safe area) every two hours or every 100 miles and stop sooner if you show any signs of sleepiness.