Wake up! Missing 1-2 hours of sleep doubles crash risk

Dec. 6, 2016 – Drivers who miss between one to two hours of the recommended seven hours of sleep in a 24-hour period nearly double their risk for a crash, according to new research from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that 35 percent of U.S. drivers sleep less than the recommended seven hours daily. And with drowsy driving involved in more than one in five fatal crashes on U.S. roadways each year, AAA warns drivers that getting less than seven hours of sleep may have deadly consequences. If you have gotten into an accident that wasn’t your fault as the other party was tired or distracted, you may need to contact someone like this Personal Injury Lawyer in St. Louis for legal help. You shouldn’t suffer just because someone decided to stay up later than they should.

Having enough sleep applies to all drivers, but more so towards lorry and truck drivers. As their job involves driving long distances, at times from day to night, drivers in this profession are not able to get the required amount of sleep to function correctly. Sleep is important when planning on driving because it requires a lot of concentration to avoid accidents. A lack of sleep can affect your health. This is why it is necessary for lorry drivers to include an Electronic Logging Device in their vehicle to monitor their length of time on the road. Take a look at something like a gorilla safety eld review to assist you in making a decision as to which device is best for your vehicle. It worked for a friend of mine, who works in the commercial driving industry. It has helped him keep track of breaks which has improved his health and productivity!

“You cannot miss sleep and still expect to be able to safely function behind the wheel,” said Dr. David Yang, executive director for the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. “Our new research shows that a driver who has slept for less than five hours has a crash risk comparable to someone driving drunk.”

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety’s report, Acute Sleep Deprivation and Risk of Motor Vehicle Crash Involvement, reveals that drivers missing 2-3 hours of sleep in a 24-hour period more than quadrupled their risk of a crash compared to drivers getting the recommended seven hours of sleep. This is the same crash risk the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration associates with driving over the legal limit for alcohol.

The AAA Foundation report found that in a 24-hour period, crash risk for sleep-deprived drivers increased steadily when compared to drivers who slept the recommended seven hours or more:

• Six to seven hours of sleep: 1.3 times the crash risk
• Five to six hours of sleep: 1.9 times the crash risk
• Four to five hours of sleep: 4.3 times the crash risk
• Less than four hours of sleep: 11.5 times the crash risk

While 97 percent of drivers told the AAA Foundation they view drowsy driving as a completely unacceptable behavior that is a serious threat to their safety, nearly one in three admit that at least once in the past month they drove when they were so tired they had a hard time keeping their eyes open.

“Managing a healthy work-life balance can be difficult and far too often we sacrifice our sleep as a result,” said Jake Nelson, director of Traffic Safety Advocacy and Research for AAA. “Failing to maintain a healthy sleep schedule could mean putting yourself or others on the road at risk.”

The AAA have also made it clear to all lorry drivers that they need to make sure they are taking their legally required breaks and are getting enough rest between shifts. The massive size of trucks means that they are much more likely to cause fatalities if they are involved in an accident than a normal sized vehicle. If you or a loved one has been involved in an accident with a commercial truck where the driver hasn’t had the correct amount of breaks then you may want to claim compensation for any injuries suffered. Get in touch with someone such as these GJEL Accident Attorneys to see if they can help you. The AAA is hoping to reduce the amount of drowsy driver by making sure people know when they are too tired to drive.

Symptoms of drowsy driving can include having trouble keeping eyes open, drifting from lanes or not remembering the last few miles driven. However, more than half of drivers involved in fatigue-related crashes experienced no symptoms before falling asleep behind the wheel. AAA urges drivers to not rely on their bodies to provide warning signs of fatigue and should instead prioritize getting plenty of sleep (at least seven hours) in their daily schedules. If you are struggling to get a decent amount of sleep at night, it could be time that you start thinking about looking into alternative medications, such as CBD oil, or sleep remedies to take before you go to sleep to ensure you get as many healthy hours of rest as possible. Not only will it help you to stay safe on long journeys, but it can also benefit other road users around you too. For longer trips, drivers should also:

• Travel at times when normally awake
• Schedule a break every two hours or every 100 miles
• Avoid heavy foods
• Travel with an alert passenger and take turns driving
• Avoid medications that cause drowsiness or other impairment

The AAA Foundation report is based on the analysis of a representative sample of 7,234 drivers involved in 4,571 crashes. All data is from the NHTSA’s National Motor Vehicle Crash Causation Survey which comprised a representative sample of police-reported crashes that involved at least one vehicle that was towed from the scene and resulted in emergency medical services being dispatched to the scene.

Established by AAA in 1947, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit, publicly-supported charitable educational and research organization. Dedicated to saving lives and reducing injuries on our roads, the Foundation’s mission is to prevent crashes and save lives through research and education about traffic safety. The Foundation has funded over 300 research projects designed to discover the causes of traffic crashes, prevent them and minimize injuries when they do occur. Visit www.AAAFoundation.org for more information on this and other research.