32% of Drivers Admit to Drowsy Driving

Close to 96% of all motorists in a survey by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety believe that driving while drowsy is unacceptable. However, that doesn’t stop 32% of them from driving while drowsy anyway. One out of every 3 drivers in the survey admitted to driving while fatigued when they were so tired they could barely keep their eyes open.

Last year, a survey by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that drowsy driving was linked to one out of every six fatal accidents, and one out of every eight seriously injurious accidents. That survey really revealed to Los Angeles car accident attorneysthe extent to which the public and transportation safety agencies have underestimated the role of drowsy driving in accidents.

Part of the problem is that there are no measures or indicators to identify drowsy driving, such as those that exist for intoxicated driving or speeding. There are no devices and indicators to help reveal whether a person is too drowsy drive.

In many accidents caused by drowsy driving, motorists fail to mention to police officers that they dozed off at the wheel, for obvious reasons. In fact, Los Angeles car accident lawyers suspect that the actual number of people being killed in accidents caused by sleepy drivers is much higher than we currently know.

This week, the National Sleep Foundation wants Americans to wake up to the dangers of drowsy driving. The Foundation is marking National Drowsy Driving Prevention Week, hoping for more discussion about avoiding driving while fatigued.

Studies indicate that a person driving without sleep for twenty hours is just as impaired as someone driving with a BAC level of .08%. We have zero tolerance for intoxicated driving, and have fairly successfully promoted a culture that finds drunk driving abhorrent. We need to promote the same mindset for drowsy driving too.