Driving while Drowsy: A no no 

Driving while Drowsy: A no no

Are you the type who easily feels sleepy while driving? Well better be careful because drowsy driving can be as dangerous as driving while drunk. Like alcohol, sleepiness decreases awareness, slows reaction time, impairs judgment and thus the risk of having a fatal car crash is high.

Majority of drivers don’t seem to pay much attention to this issue, while truth is that, this must be taken into serious consideration. In fact, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported estimates of approximately 100,000 police-reported crashes annually (about 1.5 percent of all crashes) that involve drowsiness or fatigue as a major causal factor. That’s roughly 71,000 people injured in fall-asleep crashes each year. NHTSA also estimates that these crashes represent $12.5 billion in monetary losses each year. Imagine the immense economic costs!

Those most at risk at sleeping while driving are young adults (16-24), commercial truck drivers and shift workers. Since young adults are usually the ones with busy social life, tends to stay late for gimmicks and watching TV and also due to school requirements, they are more at risk than others. Fall-sleep crash is also a big threat to commercial truck drivers since they usually drive alone at night for long distances. Sleep deprivation which is typical for shift workers also put them to the same risk since they do not have a regular sleeping pattern. So to be a safer driver, we must be aware of our own biological clock. What times of day do we feel most alert? What times do we feel most drowsy? Being aware of our own personal cycle, we will be more cautious when we're likely to be feeling sleepy.

I knew some friends that fell asleep behind the wheels, some are lucky enough to arrive at their destinations safe and sound but unfortunately, many met accidents due to this, and worst some even lost their lives. This and the fact that I still want to experience many years in driving my Mazda Protege made me more cautious when I’m on the road. We might be the most cautious driver but sleepiness is not much of our control, so need I say reckless driving is just as risky as drowsy driving?
Since I usually drive at night I pay special attention to the lights in my car. I immediately had my defective Mazda headlights and Mazda tail lights replaced from Auto Parts Inner, to ensure that I get better visibility while driving at night.

So if you want to arrive home safely, just always remember that sleeping and driving don’t mix. It is better to pay close attention to early signs of a possible road mishap. This may already be a cliché, but really, it is better to be safe than sorry.

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