DrDeClutterBlog.com

  Scary Stats

According to DrowsyDriving.org & the National Sleep Foundation’s 2005 Sleep in America Poll:
(By the way, the 2009 Poll won’t be any better!)

“60% of adult drivers – about 168 million people – say they have driven a vehicle while feeling drowsy in the past year, and more than one-third, (37% or 103 million people), have actually fallen asleep at the wheel! In fact, of those who have nodded off, 13% say they have done so at least once a month. Four percent – approximately eleven million drivers – admit they have had an accident or near accident because they dozed off or were too tired to drive.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration conservatively estimates that 100,000 police-reported crashes are the direct result of driver fatigue each year. This results in an estimated 1,550 deaths, 71,000 injuries, and $12.5 billion in monetary losses. These figures may be the tip of the iceberg, since currently it is difficult to attribute crashes to sleepiness.”

Risk Factors

Again, according to DrowsyDriving.org:

Specific At-Risk Groups

• Young people-especially males under age 26
  
• Shift workers and people with long work hours-working the night shift increases your risk by nearly 6 times; rotating-shift workers and people working more than 60 hours a week need to be particularly careful
  
• Commercial drivers-especially long-haul drivers - at least 15% of all heavy truck crashes involve fatigue
  
• People with undiagnosed or untreated disorders-people with untreated obstructive sleep apnea have been shown to have up to a seven times increased risk of falling asleep at the wheel
  
• Business travelers-who spend many hours driving or may be jet lagged

Are You at Risk?

Before you drive, consider whether you are:

• Sleep-deprived or fatigued (6 hours of sleep or less triples your risk)
• Suffering from sleep loss (insomnia), poor quality sleep, or a sleep debt
• Driving long distances without proper rest breaks
• Driving through the night, mid-afternoon or when you would normally be asleep
• Taking sedating medications (antidepressants, cold tablets, antihistamines)
• Working more than 60 hours a week (increases your risk by 40%)
• Working more than one job and your main job involves shift work
• Drinking even small amounts of alcohol
• Driving alone or on a long, rural, dark or boring road

Get some extra help sleeping well. I’ve used a ”white noise” machine for over 20 years, it travels everywhere with me to help block out noises and that otherwise would keep me awake.