We all know that drinking and driving is dangerous and can lead to serious injury and loss of life. However, fewer people are aware of the significant of danger of driving while drowsy. If you drive while you are drowsy your reflexes are severely impaired, as are your senses of awareness and judgment.

According to studies, if you drive after not sleeping for 18 hours your senses are undermined to the same level as somebody whose blood alcohol level is 0.05%. Driving after being awake for 24 hours impairs your senses to the same level as a person whose alcohol blood level is 0.1%.

During the past 12 months approximately one fifth of all Canadian drivers say they have nodded off at the wheel. Drowsy/tired drivers cause approximately 400 road death in Canada each year.

The following factors may make a driver drowsy:

– not enough sleep
– your sleep is interrupted/fragmented
– chronic sleep debt (your sleep is of poor quality over a long period)
– spending too long awake on one single task
– not tuning in to your internal clock (are you less alert in the middle of the afternoon?)
– irregular/extreme work schedules or driving patterns
– a sleep disorder which is untreated or undiagnosed
– medication that may make you drowsy at the wheel
– consuming alcohol when you are already tired

Do not kid yourself that driver fatigue is something just truck/bus/taxi drivers suffer from. It can affect anyone who is driving tired.

The following people are most at risk:

– drivers of commercial vehicles
– newly qualified drivers, particularly young men
– split-shift and night workers
– patients with sleeping disorders
– people whose lifestyles affect the quantity/quality of their sleep

Am I at risk?
If you experience any of the symptoms below, pull over and have a nap. Do not drive.

– boredom
– drifting out of your lane
– drowsiness and yawning
– irritability
– loss of concentration
– missing road signs
– nodding off
– slow reactions
– sore/tired/itchy eyes

When you plan on driving make sure you had a good sleep and feel well rested. Plan your trip so that you can stop and have a break every two hours. If you can, don’t drive between 1am and 7am (at this time your body wants to sleep). IF YOU FEEL TIRED DON’T DRIVE.

– Click here for more information on driver fatigue
– Working Together to Understand Driver Fatigue: Report on Symposium Proceedings (PDF)