CDC says 4.2% of drivers admit to falling asleep at the wheel
The findings are based on a survey of 147,000 people in 19 states. Texas had the highest rate of people falling asleep while driving, California the third-highest.
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Comments1
Crashes related to
drowsiness are more likely to happen during the midafternoon and at
night, when drivers are the most tired, the CDC reported.
(Luis Sinco, Los Angeles Times / August 8, 2012)
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Start your engines … and your coffee makers?
A report released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 4.2% of adults admitted to falling asleep at the wheel at least once in the previous month.
The report also found that people were more likely to fall asleep while driving if they slept six hours or less a night, fell asleep throughout the day or snored at night.
The CDC's findings were based on a 2009-10 survey of more than 147,000 people. California had the third-highest rate of drivers falling asleep in the survey, which included 19 states and the District of Columbia. Texas had the highest rate and Oregon the lowest.
Anne G. Wheaton, an epidemiologist and the lead author of the CDC report, said factors such as long commutes and a higher percentage of shift workers can increase a state's rate of sleeping drivers.
Although the national average of 4.2% is already a high rate of occurrence, the actual number of drivers falling asleep at the wheel is higher, Wheaton said.
"This percentage we reported is people that actually recognize that they had fallen asleep while driving," she said. "A lot of people, if they fall asleep for a second or two, don't even realize it."
Sleep-deprivation impairs drivers by slowing their reaction time, making them less attentive and inhibiting their decision-making ability, Wheaton said.
Crashes related to drowsiness are more likely to happen during the midafternoon and at night, when drivers are the most tired, the CDC reported. These accidents often involve a single vehicle that leaves the road.
But the agency also said that head-on collisions and rear-end collisions were disproportionately caused by tired drivers. Such crashes were also more likely to cause injuries and fatalities than incidents not involving sleepy drivers.
Wheaton and her team found that adults 25 to 34 were the most likely to fall asleep while driving. But older folks, 65 and older, were least likely to snooze at the wheel.
The report also found that men were more likely than women to fall asleep while driving.
Although the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it has found that only 2.5% of fatal crashes involve drowsy driving, the CDC said some studies show that number could be as high as 15% to 33%.
The CDC's report is based on the largest U.S. survey to date regarding sleep deprivation and driving. In a December study by the AAA, 30% of drivers said they had driven in the last month despite struggling to keep their eyes open.
david.undercoffler@latimes.com
A report released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 4.2% of adults admitted to falling asleep at the wheel at least once in the previous month.
The report also found that people were more likely to fall asleep while driving if they slept six hours or less a night, fell asleep throughout the day or snored at night.
The CDC's findings were based on a 2009-10 survey of more than 147,000 people. California had the third-highest rate of drivers falling asleep in the survey, which included 19 states and the District of Columbia. Texas had the highest rate and Oregon the lowest.
Anne G. Wheaton, an epidemiologist and the lead author of the CDC report, said factors such as long commutes and a higher percentage of shift workers can increase a state's rate of sleeping drivers.
Although the national average of 4.2% is already a high rate of occurrence, the actual number of drivers falling asleep at the wheel is higher, Wheaton said.
"This percentage we reported is people that actually recognize that they had fallen asleep while driving," she said. "A lot of people, if they fall asleep for a second or two, don't even realize it."
Sleep-deprivation impairs drivers by slowing their reaction time, making them less attentive and inhibiting their decision-making ability, Wheaton said.
Crashes related to drowsiness are more likely to happen during the midafternoon and at night, when drivers are the most tired, the CDC reported. These accidents often involve a single vehicle that leaves the road.
But the agency also said that head-on collisions and rear-end collisions were disproportionately caused by tired drivers. Such crashes were also more likely to cause injuries and fatalities than incidents not involving sleepy drivers.
Wheaton and her team found that adults 25 to 34 were the most likely to fall asleep while driving. But older folks, 65 and older, were least likely to snooze at the wheel.
The report also found that men were more likely than women to fall asleep while driving.
Although the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it has found that only 2.5% of fatal crashes involve drowsy driving, the CDC said some studies show that number could be as high as 15% to 33%.
The CDC's report is based on the largest U.S. survey to date regarding sleep deprivation and driving. In a December study by the AAA, 30% of drivers said they had driven in the last month despite struggling to keep their eyes open.
david.undercoffler@latimes.com
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This isn't something that happens to me anymore after driving over a million miles or more since I was about 15 years old. (15 1/2 when I got my learner's permit in 1963)
But I can remember many times trying to stay awake driving home late (between 2 am and 6 am) from girlfriends houses between ages 21 and 25 or traveling long distances through the night because I didn't have enough money for a hotel or motel while driving 1000s of miles in the late 1960s and early 1970s. So, first the white lines or double yellow lines begin to hypnotize you so even if your eyes are open your brain starts shutting off. Then if you are lucky you wake with a start and hopefully are still on the road. Then I started to slap my face with my hand or pinch myself because it is hard to fall asleep driving if I was in enough pain. Sometimes I bit my lip until it bled to feel enough pain to stay awake. A little pain is better than waking up dead.
As I grew older I started drinking coffee but I found often I would get burned on hot coffee (usually my tongue back then. Also there were not plastic cup covers then mostly or they were the thin kind and often the coffee melted through the paper cup if you didn't drink it fast enough. Then I finally got smart and stopped drinking hot coffee while driving and got the little Vanilla Starbucks coffees from 7-11s or service stations where I bought gas. Then I started to not drive after 2 am. Then finally I realized driving after Midnight wasn't a good idea either. However, all this took years to learn. And now I get a Starbucks now at 64 any time I feel drowsy because now I have the money and the time to stop at a restaurant or hotel any time I want to. So, the likelihood of falling asleep is closer to zero than ever before. But, this all took about 50 years to get to where I am now. But, now you know it you can be as safe as I am at 15 1/2 and don't have to go through all the stages that I did.
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