Drowsy Driving

Research shows that nearly 83.6 million sleep-deprived people are in the workplace, at school or driving on the road. A drowsy driver is a dangerous driver for a variety of reasons: Lack of sleep slows reaction time, impairs judgment and situational awareness, and increases lapses in attention and risk-taking – all skills necessary for safely operating a vehicle.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that in 2017, 91,000 police-reported crashes involved drowsy drivers. These crashes led to an estimated 50,000 people injured and nearly 800 deaths. However, it is agreed that drowsy driving is significantly underreported. There were 693 fatalities involving a drowsy driver in 2022, down 1.1 percent from 701 in 2021 (Overview of Motor Vehicle Traffic Crashes in 2022, NHTSA).