{"id":30140,"date":"2018-11-08T12:00:07","date_gmt":"2018-11-08T17:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.terrybryant.com\/?p=30140"},"modified":"2024-02-27T07:31:55","modified_gmt":"2024-02-27T13:31:55","slug":"drowsy-driving-prevention-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.terrybryant.com\/blogs\/drowsy-driving-prevention-week","title":{"rendered":"Observing Drowsy Driving Prevention Week"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Drowsy Driving Prevention Week is November 4 \u2013 11. Affirmed by Congress and other governmental and NGOs, it is sponsored by the American Sleep Foundation (ASF). This public awareness campaign reminds drivers about sleep safety, with emphasis on the perils encountered by those who insist on driving while sleep-deprived. It&#8217;s good timing, considering that the holidays are just ahead and many of us will be on the highways for some portion of them.<\/p><div id=\"glm-mobile-toc-box\" style=\"display: none;\"><\/div>\n<p>According to the ASF, as many as half of all U.S. adult drivers admit to consistently getting behind the wheel while drowsy. And 20% <a href=\"https:\/\/drowsydriving.org\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">admit to falling asleep behind the wheel<\/a> at some point over the past year. Another two out of five admit to falling asleep behind the wheel at least once since they began driving.<\/p>\n<p>Further study of this dangerous phenomenon uncovers other chilling facts:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Driver reaction times, hazard awareness, and ability to sustain their focus <a href=\"https:\/\/one.nhtsa.gov\/people\/injury\/drowsy_driving1\/human\/Drowsy.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">all worsen<\/a> the more drowsy a driver becomes.<\/li>\n<li>You are three times more likely to be in (or cause) a car crash if you drive fatigued.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that over 1,500 die and over 70,000 are injured from the more than 100,000 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.terrybryant.com\/houston-car-accident-lawyer\/drowsy-driver-accident-lawyer\">drowsy driving accidents<\/a> each year.\u00a0NHTSA also tells us that younger drivers (age 16-24) are nearly twice as likely to be involved in a drowsy driving wreck as drivers twice their age (40-59).<\/p>\n<h2>Many Drowsy Drivers Think they can &#8220;Fight Through It&#8221;<\/h2>\n<p>Drowsy driving doesn&#8217;t seem like a\u00a0 challenge when compared to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.terrybryant.com\/houston-car-accident-lawyer\/drunk-driver-accident-lawyer\">impaired (alcohol or drugs) driving<\/a>. But those who drive more than 20 consecutive hours without sleep have the same awareness-equivalent as one who drives with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08%. <em>That\u2019s the legal intoxication limit.<\/em>\u00a0 \u201cBut I wouldn\u2019t drive that long without rest,\u201d you say.\u00a0 What if you do that for 15 hours? Using the math, you could be as impaired as someone with a BAC of 0.04 or .06. Would you drive around with your kids in the car at .06? Would you trust yourself not to hit someone else because your reaction times are just short of legally intoxicated? If you try to fight through it, you and someone else can become casualties of your arrogance. If you experience any of the following indicators, you\u2019re driving drowsy. When you feel them, PULL OVER! Signs of drowsy driving:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>You have difficulty focusing, frequently blink your eyes, and your eyelids seem \u201cheavy.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>It\u2019s hard to stop daydreaming.<\/li>\n<li>It gets hard to keep your head up.<\/li>\n<li>You catch yourself drifting from your lane, swerving, tailgating, or take those \u201cslow down\u201d bumps too fast.<\/li>\n<li>You begin losing some short-term memory.<\/li>\n<li>You\u2019re missing exits or struggle to read traffic signs.<\/li>\n<li>You can\u2019t stop yawning.<\/li>\n<li>You feel restless, irritable, or aggressive.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Get There Safely and Keep Others Safe<\/h2>\n<p>The greatest cure for drowsy driving is sleep. It\u2019s hard these days to get a good night\u2019s sleep.\u00a0 But if you can do it (more than just six hours), you&#8217;ll start out alert for the drive. Other hints include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Don&#8217;t be in too much of a hurry.<\/strong> It&#8217;s better to allow the time to drive alert and arrive alive.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Use the buddy system if the opportunity arises<\/strong>. Having someone to spell you a few hours can be invaluable. Conversation fights the \u201cdrowsies\u201d and heightens driver awareness.<\/li>\n<li><strong>If driving alone, take a break every 100 miles or 2 hours<\/strong>. Do something to refresh yourself: grab a snack; refill that coffee mug; walk around briskly for at least 10 minutes. Wake your sedentary body up.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Take a nap if you think you need one<\/strong>. Find a safe place to pull over for a 20- to 30-minute \u201cpower nap.\u201d And when you wake up, take a brief stroll \u2013 just a couple of minutes to clear the cobwebs and get the blood flowing again.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Avoid alcohol and medications that cause drowsiness<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Avoid driving at times when you would normally be asleep<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Caffeine can be your best friend<\/strong>. The equivalent of two cups of coffee can increase alertness for several hours. Just don\u2019t lean too heavily on the coffee without taking some of the other steps listed above to avoid drowsy driving.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>We can drive a long way and still be in Texas. Drive safely \u2013 and be alert \u2013 no matter how far you go. And if you are injured by a drowsy driver, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.terrybryant.com\/about-us\">legal team of The Accident and Injury Law Office of Terry Bryant<\/a> is at your service 24\/7\/365.\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Drowsy Driving Prevention Week is November 4 \u2013 11. Affirmed by Congress and other governmental and NGOs, it is sponsored by the American Sleep Foundation (ASF). This public awareness campaign reminds drivers about sleep safety, with emphasis on the perils encountered by those who insist on driving while sleep-deprived. It&#8217;s good timing, considering that the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":30141,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,631],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-accident-attorney","category-safety-tips","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Observing Drowsy Driving Prevention Week | Terry Bryant Law<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Drowsy Driving Prevention Week is November 4 \u2013 11. 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