Des Moines, IA- With the switch to Daylight Savings Time this past weekend, some Iowans may be starting the week out sleepy from that lost hour.
AAA Iowa Spokesperson Brian Ortner tells Radio Iowa that a new motor club study finds driving while drowsy can be dangerous, and even deadly.
“This recent study is based on in-depth crash investigation and national fatal crash data,” Ortner says, “and it estimates that drowsy driving is a factor in roughly ten times as many traffic fatalities as traditional crash data may indicate right now.”
According to the study, drowsy drivers were involved in 18 percent of all traffic fatalities between 2017 and 2021, accounting for nearly 30,000 deaths.
Whether you’re driving to work or taking the family on a road trip, Ortner says it’s vital that you stay alert or get off the road.
“Drowsiness impairs drivers in a lot of different ways. It can reduce alertness, it can impair your judgment,” Ortner says. “It may cause those hazardous micro-sleeps, and I think we’ve all had those where you catch yourself nodding and wake up, and then self-perception of drowsiness. A lot of drivers underestimate their own drowsiness and they’re putting themselves and others at risk.”
He says that sleep deprivation increases a driver’s risk of making mistakes that can lead to an accident. The AAA study finds those deprived of sleep by four or more hours have an impairment level similar to those who are over the legal blood alcohol limit.
