Trying to go about your daily life while feeling exhausted can lead to serious problems, and this is also true for drivers on the road that feel sleep-deprived.
Drowsy driving is a common concern for people on highways or back roads. Knowing how sleep deprivation leads to car accidents and injuries can help you as you travel.
Lack of focus
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, sleep disorders or medications can alter people’s minds and leave them struggling to focus on the lanes ahead of them. Someone’s attention can feel split between the need to doze off and the need to watch for cars turning or merging on the road.
This can happen when truck drivers or other workers must deliver items on time. If they do not pull over to nap at some point during the day-long drive, then they could ram into cars or cause an accident.
Different reaction time
The amount of time it takes to see and then react to an obstacle ahead of you is important. Even a few seconds can mean the difference between swerving away from danger or hitting another vehicle.
Drowsy drivers have a slower reaction time, which means they often take longer to react appropriately and may even be completely unresponsive behind the wheel.
Increasingly sloppy mistakes
As you travel near a drowsy driver, you may notice smaller mistakes that can lead to an accident. The vehicle may cross the lane close to you or crowd other cars on a busy road. Signs of drowsy driving can seem harmless at first but also greatly impact how a crash happens as they become worse.