Sleep Patterns: The Effects Of Sleep Disorders On Driving

According to Vila (2006), data through the year 2003 indicated that more officers were killed by “unattended adverse events than during the commission of felonies.” Fatigue resulting from reduced sleep, both in duration and quality, is a significant factor in unintentional injuries and fatalities in the law enforcement community. Two hundred eighty seven (287) of the officers involved in the study reported being involved in a motor vehicle collision during the follow up period. Fatigue and drowsiness resulting from sleep disorders is believed to be a contributing factor in a significant number of these collisions. Across 2009-2010, more than a third of line of duty deaths were attributed to motor vehicle crashes (NLEMF, 2010). Sleepiness and fatigue are major factors in motor vehicle collisions and drivers suffering from excessive sleepiness are not only involved in more collisions, but the collisions are often more serious and result in more severe injuries (Drake, 2010). While, officers involved in the study regarded drowsy driving to be as serious and as dangerous as drunk driving, almost half of the participants reported falling asleep while driving 1-2 times a month due to excessive sleepiness (JAMA, 2011). The loss of only two hours of sleep over just a one week period was found to have the same decrease in performance comparable with individuals after 24 hours of staying awake.

Driver fatigue may not be illegal but it is lethal. Fatigue is a discreet killer that occurs for drivers no matter their age, their driving experience, how long the trip is or the time of day. In 2012, there were more fatigue related crashes than drink driving crashes in NSW. When someone doesn’t sleep for the previous 17 years before driving, they have an equal effect to someone who drives with a blood alcohol level of 0.05. A study by Nordbakke and Sagberg in 2007 concluded that drivers had a standard knowledge on preventative actions and the factors influencing the risk of falling asleep. But, despite this knowledge, drivers continue to drive on the road whilst tired.

Motor vehicle collisions stand as one of the leading causes of death in North America. Teens and young adults who have recently gotten their license usually account for about one fatality every 10 minutes. Researchers from the New England Journal of Medicine have done a study on the occurrence of car crashes and the average statistics for crashes during the year shows that about one person in 50 will become involved in a motor vehicle collision. For the people who have become involved in a crash; only about 1 percent of them will die, then 10 percent will be hospitalized, and 25 percent will unfortunately become temporarily disabled. (Donald A. Redelmeier, M.D., and Robert J. Tibshirani, Ph.D., New England Journal of

As a future sleep technician, and a person who has suffered personally from the aftermath of a friend falling asleep at the wheel, the topic of "drowsy driving" is one concerns me. Studies show that there has been a significant rise in sleep-related crashes since the initiation of Maggie's Law in 2003, but only one recorded

Now-a-days driver drowsiness is one of the major causes for many motor vehicle catastrophes and it can impair the human brain as much as an alcohol or drugs can. It can be due to fatigue, lack of sleep, driving for a long time, circadian low rhythm and use of medication. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), over 1.5 million people die per year and over 40 million people have severe injuries. From the statistics, we can conclude that there is an urge for developing a system that can detect drowsiness and alert the driver before any hazard happens.

All drivers have an increased risk of crashing when driving late at night but the risk is greater for young, inexperienced drivers. Inexperience in night driving as well as fatigue and risk taking are all contributing factors. ‘

The cost and damage of driver fatigue is avoidable, but unfortunately occurs regularly. Falling asleep at the wheel or not concentrating while driving due to tiredness can result in road accidents with other cars or objects and even death.

According to the CDC, driving under the influence of alcohol causes one death every 51 minutes in the United States. While the driving public may not know this exact statistic, they are aware of the general effects that this legal drug has on driving. However, many are completely in the dark about other drugs that also impair one's ability to drive. These are prescription and over the counter (OTC) drugs. These drugs also slow down reaction times, impair judgement, and cause drowsiness. Some people mistakenly believe that only alcohol and illegal recreational drugs affect driving. Others are willfully negligent about driving under the influence of prescription and OTC drugs.

Separate reports by the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence https://ncadd.org/learn-about-alcohol/drinking-and-driving (NCADD) argue that alcohol affects drivers’ capabilities of managing maneuvers behind the wheel. Despite increased public awareness, drinking and drugged driving continues with an average of nearly 13,000 people killed each year in alcohol-related accidents and hundreds of thousands more injured.

Obesity is a significant contributing risk factor for a higher prevalence of fatigue and excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) in the general population. Obesity is also linked to obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). These associations represent significant occupational hazards during the performance of complex tasks such as, piloting an aircraft, driving trucks, and operating public transit vehicles, which require workers to have constant focus, attention and vigilance (Dinges et al., 1997; Dagan et al., 2006; Cohen et al., 2010). Therefore, even a slight increase in risk could have substantial impact on the population attributable risk, given the incidence rate of fatigue related crashes and the high prevalence of obesity among drivers (Dixon et al., 2007). The Institute of Medicine (IOM) provided estimates that approximately 20% of all serious injuries caused by motor vehicle crashes are associated with drowsy driving (Garbarino et al., 2001). The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) gave evidence that over 30% of truck driver fatal crashes are fatigue

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, drowsy driving accounts for more than 83,000 motor-vehicle accidents each year and “16.5 percent of all fatal crashes…” in the United States (“Research on Drowsy Driving | National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),” 2014.). As bad as those figures are, the true statistics are thought to be significantly higher, partly due to limitations on assessing drowsiness after an incident occurs. Indeed, a recent study performed by the Automotive Association of American (AAA) found that “21% off all fatal crashes involved a drowsy driver” (“AAAFoundation-DrowsyDriving-Nov2014.pdf,” 2014). These figures might lead you to conclude that driving while Drowsy is an irresponsible

Driving is a complex exercise involving specific motor, cognitive, perceptual and decision making skills (George, 2004). To drive in a competent manner involves continued concentration and attentiveness which can be challenging for drivers suffering from sleep deprivation (George, 2004). This essay will argue that sleep deprivation impairs effective driving by reducing alertness and increasing response time. Williamson and Feyer (2000) conducted a series of tests to discover the effects sleep-deprivation and inebriation. They concluded that fatigue resulting from sleep deprivation is an important factor likely to compromise performance of speed and accuracy tasks, both of which are crucial for driving. While this study by Williamson et al.

Accidents at higher speeds, increases the chance of more serious injury or death. Hitting an animal on the road at 75mph, will more then double the chances of death to the driver and passengers, and causes more damage to the vehicle, then driving 60. Something as simple and common as a tire blowout, will severely reduce the drivers ability to maintain control.

Researchers from the University of California, San Diego conducted a study to determine if minimally buzzed drivers were more likely than sober drivers to cause motor vehicle accidents. Using information from the U.S. Fatality Analysis Reporting System, the researchers studied the records for 570,731 fatal crashes, which occurred between 1994 and 2011. In particular, the researchers focused on those drivers with a blood alcohol content level of 0.01 to 0.07. The study examined the relationship between the degree to which motorists were assigned sole official blame for crashes and their BAC levels.

Drinking under the influence (DUI) or in other words driving while intoxicated (DWI) is a crime of driving a transport while affected by alcohol or any other drugs, to a level that reduces the driver’s mind preventing him to function a motor vehicle safely. Driving is an integral part of our daily routines however, the dangers that accompany driving the transport are often ignored. From the Monash University Accident Research Centre, a study found that 13.5% of the crashes were because of drunk driving (Australian Mobile Telecommunication Association, 2011). There are many factors of car crashes e.g. speeding, Driver fatigue, drunk driving, driving while texting and etc. This report will be focusing on drunk driving and will investigate a scenario