Don’t Drive Under the Influence (of Sleep Deprivation)

There is no denying that getting enough sleep is directly related to how well an individual performs on daily tasks. Nonetheless, there is still a striking number of people who function day-to-day on about 4 hours of sleep. Speaking from personal experience, it isn’t uncommon for me to stay up all night studying or doing homework and catch 3 hours of sleep before my 8:15a.m. class. This seems to be the case for many college students, especially during finals week. In addition to students, other people who are affected by lack of sleep are those who work strenuous night shift jobs, particularly truck drivers. Often times their shifts can be as long as 10-15 hours leaving them with very little time to catch some shut eye.

According to research by QUT's Centre for Accident Research & Road Safety many people believe that driving drunk is far more dangerous than driving sleepy, when in fact, they are both equally dangerous. This study shows a blood alcohol content of 0.05 percent has the same effect as being awake for 17 hours, and a BAC of 0.1 percent is roughly 20 hours, but drivers don't consider the impairment to be the same. In addition to studying the dangers of sleepy driving, this study also examined people’s perceptions of driving while tired compared to drunk driving. The results showed that out 290 people in the study, young people (under the age of thirty) were more likely to drive sleepy than drunk, and they are okay with enforcement practices for drunk driving but not for sleepy driving. This shows that drivers, especially young drivers, don’t understand the real dangers behind fatigued driving. The reality is that driving while tired is every bit as dangerous as driving drunk.

Dr. Gail Baura is also interested in the effects of sleep on drivers. She recently gave a lecture at Loyola University Chicago about the research she did on the topic. In her lecture, she referred to a study conducted by Mitler et. al which examined how sleep deprivation could decrease the performance of truck drivers while on the job. To do this, they monitored four groups of truck drivers, each driving for a long period of time, but they were on different shifts. The driver’s performance was measured by how well the can stay in their lane and not swerve. Additionally, electrophysiological data were monitored to detect when a driver may be falling asleep at the wheel. The results showed that these truck drivers were not getting enough sleep, and this put them at a significantly higher risk of getting into an accident. This is consistent with the data obtained from the research conducted by QUT's Centre for Accident Research & Road Safety, which concluded that driving while sleep deprived is just as deleterious as driving drunk. We all know the dangers of drunk driving, and it’s time that we recognize that driving while fatigued is just as problematic. So, the next time you’re running on just a couple hours of sleep and are thinking about driving, put the keys down and get some rest; it could save somebody’s life.

Works Cited

Mitler, M. M., Miller, J. C., Lipsitz, J. J., Walsh, J. K., & Wylie, C. D. (1997). The Sleep of Long-Haul Truck Drivers. The New England Journal of Medicine, 337(11), 755–761

Queensland University of Technology. "Young drivers don't see dangers of driving tired, study suggests." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 14 October 2015.