Getting behind the wheel means focusing all of your attention on the road in front of you. This becomes especially difficult when you are feeling tired, as drowsy driving can pose a major threat to everyone on the road. <\/p>\n
A recent survey from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that 28 percent of people admitted to having a hard time staying awake behind the wheel at least once in the past month. Although more than one-fourth of drivers reported facing this issue, an overwhelming 95 percent believe that it is unacceptable to operate a vehicle in this condition. About 83 percent say that drowsy drivers are a threat to the safety of themselves and others. <\/p>\n
"Drowsy driving remains a significant threat to the motoring public, with many drivers underestimating the problem of driving while extremely tired and overestimating their ability to deal with it," said Peter Kissinger, president of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. "Driving while fatigued is dangerous because it slows reaction time, impairs vision and causes lapses in judgment, similar to driving drunk. We know that people can't reliably predict when they are going to fall asleep, and a very fatigued driver may fall asleep for several seconds without even realizing it." <\/p>\n
It could be difficult for some drivers to realize when they are too tired to safely operate a vehicle. Instances where they have wandering thoughts, find it difficult to focus, cannot recall the past few miles or minutes, or drift in and out of lanes all may signal that an individual is too tired to drive. <\/p>\n