AAA Study Shows Dangers of Drowsy Driving

For many, the holiday season means a lot of travel.

As holiday travel picks up, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety has an important warning.

A study from the foundation says that 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.

AAA Spokesperson Matt Nasworthy said this study shows that people cannot miss sleep and still function safely behind the wheel.

“What the study found is that if you are on the road and you have had four to five hours of sleep compared to say the recommended seven, you are driving drunk,” said Nasworthy. “You are driving equivalent to having a .08 blood alcohol concentration and if you have had less sleep than that, you are basically increasing your crash risk to ten times to someone that has had a good night’s sleep.”

Nasworthy said that the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety used information on crashes reported by police to the National Highway Traffic Safety Foundation in compiling the study.

AAA said that 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.

According to AAA, symptoms of drowsy driving can include having trouble keeping eyes open, drifting from lanes or not remembering the last few miles driven.

However, AAA said more than half of drivers involved in fatigue-related crashes experienced no symptoms before falling asleep behind the wheel.

AAA urged drivers to not rely on their bodies to provide warning signs of fatigue and should instead prioritize getting at least seven hours of sleep in their daily schedules.

For longer trips, AAA said 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, and avoid medications that cause drowsiness or other impairment.