Do You “Drowsy Drive”?
Do you “drowsy drive?”
You might be surprised as to how many of us have admitted to “driving drowsy”.
I’ll go first. There have been many a late night that I’ve been behind the wheel, and for just that nanosecond, nod off. Shake myself awake and get back to driving. Only to find myself just a few minutes later, doing it again.
According to the National Sleep Foundation, about 60% of us admit to “driving drowsy”. Then there’s this, about 20% of us are pretty confident about how ability to drive after sleeping only a couple of hours or less the night before.
Joseph Dzierzewski, the HSF’s Vice President of research and scientific affairs says this…”We see that while most Americans believe drowsy driving is risky, they still drive when not fully alert.
An estimated 6400 people die in the Unites States each year because of car crashes linked to drowsy driving.
Not sure you knew that there was a “Drowsy Driving Prevention Week” but this week is the 15th anniversary.
Here are some tips from the NSF when it comes to trying to prevent drowsy driving. Take a companion along on long trips to help look for signs of drowsiness and to help get behind the wheel if needed. A good driving companion stays awake to talk to the driver, keeping them awake. Make regular stops. Stop every 100 miles or every two hours.
You can tell if you’re driving drowsy if you’re frequently blinking, yawning or having difficulty with lane and or speed control.
I will pass along a tip I got a couple of years ago, when I confessed to a friend that I would, for a nanosecond, “zone out”, they said “chew gum”. You know what, I tried it, I think it works and now having gum in the car before hitting the road and taking a trip is a must.
Want to learn more, click here.
