Drowsy Driving Prevention Week: Nov. 2-8
November 2, 2009 by Marijke Durning, RN
Filed under National _____ Month/Week/Day
Can drowsy driving be equated to drunk driving? If you look at the statistics of crashes and deaths caused by sleepy drivers and compare them with those of drunk drivers, it won’t take you long to see the similarity.
The National Sleep Foundation notes that a study in Australia compared various levels of sleepiness with blood alcohol levels and what they found may be surprising. Being awake for:
- 18 hours equaled a blood alcohol level of 0.05
- 24 hours equaled 0.10
- 0.08 is considered to be the level of legally drunk
It’s because of numbers like this, the Centers of Disease Control (CDC) is reminding us that November 2 through 8, 2009 is Drowsy Driving Prevention Week. The hope is that a week of awareness may help reduce the estimated 100,000 crashes, which result in more than 1,500 deaths nationwide.
According to the CDC, those at higher risk for sleep-related crashes are:
- Commercial drivers (including bus and truck drivers)
- Shift workers or those with irregular hours
- People who have more than one job
- People with sleep disorders
- Teens and young adults
The National Sleep Foundation adds that adults with children at home are more likely to drive drowsy than adults without children at home.
If you are someone who tends to drive while sleepy, here are some tips that may either help you get some sleep or keep you awake while you’re driving:
- Establish a regular sleep schedule
- Don’t exercise heavily before bedtime
- Don’t eat large or heavy meals before bedtime
- Set up good sleep habits (use bedroom only for sleeping or sexual activity, read or do something quiet every evening at the same time, develop a routine that tells your body it’s time to slow down)
- If you’re driving and are drowsy, pull over for a quick nap
- Drink caffeine
- Nap during breaks if you do shift work
- Finally, if you feel your drowsiness may be due to a sleep disorder, speak with your doctor to see what you can do.
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Image: Newscom.com
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