FACTS

Multiple Factors in Drowsy Driving 

1. Sleep deprivation: Lack of sleep is a leading cause of excessive daytime sleepiness, which can induce microsleeps or other dangerous driving behavior. Adults should get between seven and nine hours of sleep each night, but a significant number of adults routinely fail to get this recommended amount of sleep.
2. Sleep disorders: Many sleep disorders, such as obstructive sleep apnea, cause a person’s sleep to be restricted, interrupted, and less restorative. Many sleep disorders go undiagnosed and, when left untreated, can cause daytime drowsiness.
3. Alcohol: Drinking alcohol can prompt sleepiness while also affecting reaction time and decision-making in ways that increase the risks of auto accidents.
4. Medications: Numerous medications cause sleepiness. Sleep aids, including prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, and dietary supplements, that are taken at night may cause lingering grogginess the next morning. Drowsiness is also a side effect of medications used for many other conditions.
5. Time of day: Auto accidents from drowsy driving occur most frequently between midnight and six a.m. or in the mid-afternoon, which are two times when sleepiness peaks.

STATS

• More than half of U.S. adult drivers admit to consistently getting behind the wheel while feeling drowsy.
• About 37% admit to falling asleep behind the wheel, while 13% admit to falling asleep behind the wheel in the past month.
• Losing even two hours of sleep is similar to the effect of having three beers.
• The crash risk for driving on 4-5 hours of sleep is more than 4 times higher than someone who has slept 7 hours, which is the same crash risk as a drunk driver with a 0.08 alcohol concentration.
• Twenty-one percent of fatal crashes involve a drowsy driver.
• More than 6,400 fatal drowsy-driving crashes occur annually.
• People are three times more likely to be in a car crash if they are tired.
• Drowsy driving killed 795 lives in 2017.