As I am sitting in the library writing this piece, I
am surrounded by people that have, more than likely, experienced the cause of
my topic - sleep deprivation. Perhaps they'll experience it tonight after they
finish cramming for Organic Chemistry, or maybe next Sunday morning when they
wake up from celebrating their completion of another finals week. While a lack
of sleep might be a commonly accepted and a universal state-of-being in our
current society, that does not dilute its potential for danger. Both physically
and mentally, our bodies are unable to respond properly without the right
amount of sleep. The majority of the population wouldn't even consider driving
while drunk, however, driving while tired is a completely different story that
most of us don't think about twice.
While this danger is commonly accepted and
acknowledged, this doesn’t stop a large portion of the population from dragging
themselves into their cars and driving to their destination. If this person was
impaired by a narcotic substance, such as alcohol, others would try to dissuade
the person from driving and force them to get some much needed rest. However,
due to the social acceptance of sleep deprivation, the same thing does not
occur for the person who just completed 16 hours of straight study. Studies
have been completed that show the results of combining a lack of sleep and
driving are as bad, if not worse, than the outcome of drunk driving, yet the
same negative connotation is not present. Given the deserved stigma of drunk driving,
shouldn’t the same negative nuance be imposed on tired driving?
At a Neuroscience seminar at Loyola University
Chicago, Dr. Gail Baura gave a presentation on continuous drowsiness
monitoring. She spoke about an article titled, “The sleep of long-haul truck
drivers” by Mitler et al., that researched drowsiness and varying sleep
patterns in truck drivers. Dr. Baura addressed the idea of using Psychomotor
Vigilance Tests to monitor sleep deprivation and alertness. These tests provide
a visual stimulus on a screen to which the participant must then respond to -
as fast as possible. The idea is that if one is less alert, they will have an
increased time response on the test, compared to someone who has had sufficient
hours of sleep, causing them to be more alert. Along with this idea, Dr. Baura
also proposed multiple ways to monitor and prevent drowsiness while driving,
one being the idea of self-driving cars with the ability to detect and analyze
the driver's current state. Self-driving cars will allow for a world with less
accidents. Some car manufacturers have begun to look internally for a
solution and have developed a handful of incredible resolutions. In the
article, Sleepy Behind the Wheel? Some Cars Can Tell, written by Eric
Tuab in the New York Times, manufacturers (such as Mercedes, Volvo, and Audi)
are highlighted for systems that have already been implemented in their current
vehicle models. Some systems are able to detect when the driver is falling into
a drowsy stage and will then alert the driver with a sound and a dashboard icon
indicating that they are driving impaired. Variables such as posture, eye-blink
rate, and even how the driver is dressed, were focused on in order to give the
reader some idea of the complexity that can go into these systems. These
systems have been referenced and discussed as as a potential solution for
long-haul truck drivers; a profession that is known for their lack of sleep.
The potential harm that can be caused by an out-of-control truck warrants a
system being put in place to ensure the safety of the others they share the
road with.
While the aforementioned systems are still incredible
to the people of today, researchers are looking even further and into the realm
of self-driving cars. With this technology, the sleep level of the driver is
irrelevant, even giving these drivers a potential break in order to catch up on
the sleep they have missed. However, should this technology come into common
usage, could we rely on it too much and could it end up causing more harm than
good? Various situations must be taken into account; for example, if a crash
becomes inevitable, does the car put its occupants safety in highest regard, or
does it take the course of action that saves the most human life?
Works Cited
Taub, Eric A. “Sleepy Behind the Wheel? Some Cars Can Tell.” The New
York Times, The New York Times, 16 Mar. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/03/16/automobiles/wheels/drowsy-driving-technology.html.
Mitler MM, Miller JC, Lipsitz JJ, Walsh JK, Wylie CD. The Sleep of long-haul truck
drivers. The New England journal of medicine. 1997;337(11):755-761. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2430925/.
No comments:
Post a Comment