Sleep deprivation in traffic causes many fatal car accidents and has the same effect as alcohol.
Sleeping is wonderful, it’s one of my favorite activities. Still, we all get tired sometimes. Worked too much, just slept badly or been sick. All reasons why you can be extra tired. And that is quite dangerous, because a bad night’s sleep makes you less alert. This can have dangerous, even fatal, consequences in traffic.
Sleep deprivation in traffic
Better Bed (who else) has research here to done. The study shows that if you slept less than 4 hours in 24 hours, there is a 15 times greater chance of causing a car accident. And they go even further: if you don’t sleep for 24 hours or only take a nap for 4 to 5 hours a week, this is equivalent to 1.0 promille of alcohol.
The highest risk is for young people, if they are not stealing traffic signs, between 00:00 and 06:00 in the night. That makes sense, because then they are often on the road to go out, for example. These are also times when fatigue can hit hard. We elderly people sit behind the tube with a glass of port.
Research
Tom Coronel is always up for an investigation (read: advertising for which he is undoubtedly paid). To demonstrate the effect of little sleep, Tom took part in a full day test drive. This without sleeping. Merijn van de Laar is a sleep scientist and concluded that attention was significantly reduced. During the first ride Tom was still fit and had fast reaction times.
After 24 hours without sleep, it is clear that he found it difficult and had a hard time completing the ride. Tom himself was also surprised: ‘I am a professional racing driver and you could say that I can control the car very well and have above-average good judgment and reaction skills, even after a night without sleep’. So nothing could be further from the truth.
It’s really dangerous, 21% of all fatal car accidents are caused by people dozing off. That’s a lot, too much actually. And it’s so easy to fix. Stop for a while, have a drink and take a power nap in a parking lot. Or just don’t get in the car at all if you’re too tired.
Photo: Lamborghini Aventador in the ditch, spotted by: carfreakjim
This article Sleep deprivation in traffic is just as dangerous as driving with alcohol on appeared first on Autoblog.nl.
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