Lawndale Tribune
The Weekly Newspaper of Lawndale
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Last Friday, kindergarteners at Billy Mitchell Elementary celebrated the 100th day of school with some costume flair. Photo Courtesy of Mitchell Elementary
Drivers Need to Wake Up and Sleep Better
By Rob McCarthy
The Automobile Club has a few words for
area drivers about sleep: You’re not getting
enough.
That recommendation follows the AAA’s
startling discovery that as many as 10
percent of injury crashes are being caused
by drowsy drivers who can’t stay awake. A
Southern California official with the group
says no matter what tricks they try, drivers
can’t fool their bodies into feeling rested.
Drowsiness is as bad as the other D-words
-- like drinking alcohol and distraction -- that
are associated with injury crashes involving
drivers and passengers.
Jake Nelson, the director of Traffic Safety
Advocacy and Research for AAA said that
“missing just two to three hours of sleep can
more than quadruple your risk for a crash,
which is the equivalent of driving drunk.”
Traffic safety researchers with the AAA
looked at dashboard-mounted video of 700
injury crashes and they detected obvious
signs of driver fatigue and sleepiness right
before impact. Their observations led the
AAA to conclude that drowsiness is hugely
underreported as a cause of injury crashes
on streets and highways.
“There is not a test that clearly shows
when someone is too sleepy,” says the UCLA
Sleep Disorders Center on its website. In the
aftermath of a sleep-associated wreck, the
driver who caused it can appear wide awake.
That’s because their body is pulsing with
adrenaline, the sleep experts at UCLA say.
The logical, but often mistaken conclusion
by observers and law enforcement officers is
that the driver also was alert before the crash.
Seven hours of sleep per night goes a long
way in keeping drivers from nodding off at the
wheel. The body can’t be fooled into feeling
refreshed with caffeine, which only masks the
fatigue and slower reaction times, according
to a Southern California-based club official.
Melissa Vega, manager of the Automobile
Club of Southern California’s Driving School,
warned against trusting caffeine, opening the
windows or singing to keep from nodding off
in traffic. “Your body’s need for sleep will
eventually override your brain’s attempts to
stay awake,” she said.
The AAA had dash cam video to analyze.
Law enforcement officers investigating traffic
collisions on scene must rely on the drivers
involved to explain what led up to a crash.
With the video evidence, the AAA’s new
research estimates that operating a motor
vehicle without enough sleep is eight times
higher than traffic safety experts believed.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention reports that 35 percent of U.S.
drivers sleep less than the recommended
minimum of seven hours daily. Shockingly,
29 percent of drivers admitted in a separate
survey by AAA they had trouble staying awake
while driving within the past 30 days. Yet,
96 percent of the respondents believed that
drowsy driving is an unacceptable behavior
and a serious threat to public safety.
A driver who is falling asleep will exhibit
symptoms including trouble keeping their
eyes open, drifting from their traffic lane, and
an inability to remember the past few miles
driven, according to traffic safety experts.
To avoid any of these dangerous behaviors
behind the wheel of a moving vehicle, the
AAA recommends that drivers plan trips
during times of day when they are typically
awake and alert. Also, avoid driving after
eating a big meal and taking medication that
makes them drowsy.
And don’t underestimate the good that a
20-minute power nap can do for alertness
and the body’s energy level, club officials
say. Drinking cold water also can kick-start
the body, especially for midday fatigue.
According to the National Sleep
Foundation’s Sleep in America poll, 60 percent
of Americans have driven while feeling sleepy
and 37 percent admit to actually having fallen
asleep while in traffic.
Uber this week announced a new policy for
drivers for their safety and their passengers.
The ride-sharing company will require its
drivers to take a six-hour break from driving
following a 12-hour shift. To guard against
drivers cheating on their time, Uber said a
driver’s app will be taken offline once the
12-hour limit is reached. •
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Weekend
Forecast
Friday
Partly
Cloudy
70˚/50˚
Saturday
Sunny
70˚/52˚
Sunday
Sunny
63˚/51˚
AND lAwNDAle News
Herald Publications - Inglewood, Hawthorne, Lawndale, El Segundo, Torrance & Manhattan Beach Community Newspapers Since 1911 - Circulation 30,000 - Readership 60,000 (310) 322-1830 - February 15, 2018