Originally published by William K. Berenson.
With job duties, family obligations, and your kids’ social schedule, getting enough sleep can feel like an impossible dream. Unfortunately, you’re not alone. Texas roads are filled with sleep-deprived drivers who could be putting you at risk of an accident.
60 percent of drivers admit to having driven while feeling drowsy during the previous 12 months and a whopping 37 percent have actually fallen asleep at the wheel, with 4 percent crashing as a result. And 13 percent of drivers chronically drove tired, falling asleep at least once a month.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates sleep-deprivation causes 100,000 car crashes every year, resulting in 1,550 fatalities and 71,000 injuries.
What Happens When You Don’t Get Enough Sleep?
Sleep deprivation has immediate physical effects on your body. These symptoms can result in an automobile accident:
- Decreased alertness
- Distractibility
- Memory loss
- Cognitive impairment
- Poor performance
- Delayed reactions
- Stress and irritability
- Nodding off
Driving drowsy has many of the same risks as driving drunk. Yet, there is not a Breathalyzer-like test to determine if a driver is too tired to be behind the wheel, making these dangerous drives difficult to identify.
Curated by Texas Bar Today. Follow us on Twitter @texasbartoday.
from Texas Bar Today http://ift.tt/1QJfa6y
via Abogado Aly Website
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