Did you know that 60% of adult drivers – roughly 168 million people – say they have driven a vehicle while feeling drowsy in the past year alone?
While the dangers of driving while intoxicated or distracted by mobile devices have been widely spread through various campaigns, sleep deprived driving has plagued drivers all over. In fact, 4% – approximately 11 million drivers have admitted they have had an accident or near accident because they dozed off or were too tired to drive.
Here’s what you need to know:
- 100,000 crashes each year are caused by fatigued drivers
- 55% of drowsy driving crashes are caused by drivers less than 25 years old
- Being awake for 18 hours is equal to a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08%
- Working more than 60 hours a week (increases your risk by 40%)
- Young males under 25 years old, shift workers and commercial drivers are at a high risk of fatigue while driving.
- Nearly three-quarters of adults in America (71%) drive a car to and from work, and many are drowsy drivers.
Tips:
- Alternate drivers every hour if you are driving long distances.
- Before you drive make sure you haven’t consumed any alcohol, make sure you aren’t driving long distances without proper breaks or against traditional sleeping time periods and are not driving alone on long and otherwise boring roads where fatigue can easily creep in.
Anyone who has been involved in a car accident knows that the effects can be far reaching. Contact the personal injury lawyers at Harris Law if you’ve been in a car accident to get you the fair compensation you deserve.
