Drowsy Drivers Kill Worse Than Drunken Ones

Your eyes are getting heavy. You try, but it is almost impossible to keep your lids open. You blink rapidly, fighting to keep yourself conscious. That's all good when you're in bed and deadly when it happens behind the wheel.

Some studies have shown that upwards of 20 - 25% of all highway accidents are sleep related. That number is huge! One quarter of driving accidents are derived from sleeplessness. Thats pretty remarkable. Sleep deprivation results in poor decision making, slowed reflexes, and consequently car accidents and deaths.

Driving while tired puts you very close to being in that 25%. You are a threat to yourself, anyone that you are sharing the car with and of course every other driver that shares the road with you.

No one ever means to fall asleep behind the wheel. It just happens and then CRASH! And, the 25% that I mentioned earlier, thats not necessarily people that actually fell asleep. Rather, it includes any accident where sleep deprivation was a factor. Its those slowed reflexes and response times, especially, that are the concern.

Constantly missing out on the sleep that you need, compromises your concentration, memory, reflexes, judgment and ability to make decisions quickly. And all of this is quite vital when were on the road.

Driving while drowsy is said to be just as dangerous as driving while drunk. Most of us would never even consider the latter if you have too much to drink, you stay put! Or, call a cab. We dont have the same mentality about driving when were over-tired, even though many of the side effects and consequences of the choice can be the same.

People that are most at risk for driving while drowsy are people who work night shifts and people who commute a lot for their job having a long drive home in the evening. If you regularly drive in the late evening or at night as a part of your social life (youre a regular concert go-er, for instance) you are at a larger risk as well.

Obviously, if you drive at night, youll want to be as well rested as possible before you start the trip. And, if at any point you become too overtired to safely reach your destination, it truly is in your best interest as well as all of us who share the road with you - to pull over for a short nap.

Of course, there are people that need to travel at night as a part of their profession, truck drivers and pilots just to name two obvious ones.

What you need to understand, though, is that you dont have to drive a truck or pilot a plane to be at risk. If you simply are overtired from consecutive restless nights, then you need to be really careful about your driving especially when it starts to get dark outside.

And, there is no magical secret to stay awake your body needs sleep and it wont give up until you give in its just a matter of time.

So, if youre constantly sleep deprived, just think twice before you get behind the wheel. It may be the difference between getting where you have to go or never arriving at all.