Drowsy Driving

Happy Monday, and welcome to Medical Mondays! I did a a rotation in Sleep MedicineĀ at Stanford not too long ago (well fine, 3 months ago), so I figured I’d share some of the things I learned about drowsy driving!

Drowsy Driving

drowsy driving

Drowsy driving and fall-asleep crashes are unfortunately somewhatĀ common, and can often result in severe injuries and/or fatalities.

In a poll conducted by the National Sleep Foundation, ~60% of drivers admit to driving while feeling sleepy, and about 40% have nodded off or fallen asleep while driving during the prior year.

Teenagers are the group at the highest risk for crashes related to drowsy driving–50-70% admit to drowsy driving within the past year, and 15% report doing so at least once per week. Other high-risk groups include:

  • Those with obstructive sleep apnea and other sleep disorders (e.g. narcolepsy)
  • Night or rotating shift workers
  • Medical house staff (oh great)
  • Law enforcement officers
  • Commercial drivers

Crash data from police reports and federal databases indicate that an average of 83,000 crahes occur annually due to drowsy driving, although this number is likely to be an underestimate, since it may not be identified if the driver is unaware of their sleepiness or unwilling to report this information, or if the driver was a victim of a fatal car crash.

Symptoms

  • Difficulty focusing
  • Frequent blinking
  • Heavy eyelids
  • Daydreaming
  • Wandering/disconnected thoughts
  • Difficulty remembering the last few miles driven (“automatic behavior”)
  • Missing exits and street signs
  • Frequent yawning
  • Rubbing eyes
  • Difficulty keeping head up
  • Drifting from lane to lane
  • Tailgating or hitting a shoulder
  • Feeling restless and irritable

Prevention

The best countermeasure for drowsy driving is obtaining adequate sleep, since sleep debt can only be remedied by actual sleep. Sleep adequacy depends on both sufficient sleep duration for age and restorative sleep quality. You can find out the recommended sleep durations from the National Sleep Foundation (current as of 02/02/2015).

If you experience drowsiness while driving, pull off to the road to a safe area as soon as possible and sleep.Ā Even a short 20-minute nap can help! Judicious use of caffeine may be beneficial, with small quantities taken over a longer period of time being more effective than a single large dose.

Exposure to cold air, eating, drinking, and turning on the radio have not been shown to be helpful.

Sources:


  • Find out how you can improve your sleep hygiene!
  • Do you ever drive while sleepy?

I came up with this design ages ago for our class t-shirt contest! :]
Disclaimer: This is where I reiterate that I am merely a medical student struggling through the world that is her clinical rotations. The statements made on this blog should not be taken as medical advice to treat, cure or prevent any disease. Please contact your own physician or health care provider before starting a health or fitness/wellness program. (See full disclaimer here.)

Permanent link to this article: https://www.fairyburger.com/drowsy-driving/

16 comments

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  1. SO SO SO MUCH THIS.
    I would never drink and drive—-but on road trips I need to be really really careful and be certain Im OK to drive sleepwise!

    1. Agreed! I was the DD all the time almost every weekend at school. Having car company is reallyyy nice when I have to drive long distances!!

  2. this is SO helpful, because this is a SERIOUS issue! i do not drive tired, because i KNOW i will fall asleep – even if it means leaving some place early #safetyfirst
    Amber recently posted…Grilled Chicken Rainbow Summer Salad – Gluten Free and Dairy FreeMy Profile

    1. I’m “treating” this preemptively by living as close to the hospital as I can–then I won’t have to drive home! :O

  3. I try so hard to avoid doing this! Dangerous!!
    Julie @ Running in a Skirt recently posted…Fashion Friday- Casual Beach DressMy Profile

    1. Definitely! :[

  4. I actually don’t drive because I get drowsy driving so quickly – literally within 10 minutes of driving I’m exhausted! Thank you for the stats that I’m not the only one who gets tired while driving (though I’ll still take the bus and carpool instead of getting behind the wheel).

    1. Public transportation and car company is wonderful!! I’m moving to a place close to where I work so I won’t have to worry about driving home while super sleepy after not sleeping for a billion hours on end!

  5. Driving whilst sleepy is SO dangerous! I always make sure if Jesse is ever driving really early in the morning/late at night that he either has someone in the car with him or he calls me for some of the way as the last thing I want him doing is falling asleep!
    Kristy from Southern In Law recently posted…Recipe: Easy Homemade Baked FalafelMy Profile

    1. I’m glad! That’s really good! It’s so hard to stay awake sometimes while driving–car company or getting a ride makes it a lot safer!

    • Ricardo on June 14, 2016 at 10:38 am
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    It only happened once, but I was on a trip with my eldest brother and my dad as we tried to bum rush a day trip to Los Angeles from Sacramento for a business meeting. We left at early o’clock and made it to the meeting (we were trying to pitch an online video service using flash, before YouTube was a thing), ate in LA, and then decided to drive back since we didn’t want to get a hotel. I elected to drive back (I figured that if I drove at a certain speed, I could be back in the Sacramento region in about 5 hours) but at about hour 2, it hit me hard and I was definitely struggling to keep my eyes open. It was dark on the 5 and while I saw my dad blast the AC to stay awake, it for sure wasn’t helping me. I pulled off the first exit I could and switched places with my brother. I then knocked out within minutes of him driving. When I came to, we were back home and I couldn’t imagine trying to finish the journey like that.

    Now I just take copious amounts of caffeine related products. =p

    1. Ahh! I’m glad there was someone there to switch places with you, and glad to hear that you were all okay! Falling asleep while driving is terrible. :[ My pseudo-narcoleptic tendencies are horrible for this, so I tend to catch up on life with people while I’m driving. I save coffee for life-or-sleep situations. :O

  6. This is a really good post and not something people always think about. Texting and talking while driving gets a lot of attention in the media, but there are a lot of people out there who are driving impaired because of being sleepy! My husband used to work nightshift and go to school and he probably wouldn’t admit it, but I am sure he drove drowsy many times with his schedule. My mom worked nights as well and used to sing to herself and drive with the windows down even when it was cold to make sure she could stay awake!
    Amy Lauren recently posted…Weekly Rundown: June 6-12My Profile

    1. Texting and driving and drunk driving definitely get a lot of attention (for good reason), but agreed! This is one people don’t talk about that much, but it is so, so dangerous. :[ I have lots of CDs with songs that I sing along to when I’m tired too!

  7. Drowsy driving stresses me out so much. I always try to pull over and take a cat nap if I need to!

    1. I’m glad! That’s definitely the smart/safe thing to do!!

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