Driving Drowsy as Bad as Driving Drunk

Serving Patients in the areas of Grand Rapids, Holland, and Big Rapids MI

We’ve all been there, skimped on sleep a night or two to meet a deadline, enjoy a late night out, or maybe up all night to take care of a sick child, but not getting enough sleep has severe, even potentially deadly consequences. Researchers estimate that 1 in 5 adults in the U.S. sleep fewer than 7 hours a night, which impairs their driving the next day.

Your sleep doctors at TMJ & Sleep Disorders of Michigan want to share some insightful information with you regarding the seriousness of not getting enough sleep, and what could be the cause of your restless nights.

A new study indicates that adults who receive fewer than 7 hours of sleep a night are at a higher risk of being involved in a car accident. The risk substantially increases when adults receive fewer than 4 hours of sleep each night.

How many hours of sleep should we get? Experts agree that 7 to 9 hours is sufficient for most adults. Yet, according to a government survey, 1 in 5 adults receive fewer than 7 hours of sleep each night. It also is estimated that 7% of motor vehicle accidents and 16% of fatal crashes are due to driver drowsiness.

How big is the risk?

Studies concluded that drivers who received fewer than 4 hours of sleep each night were at a 15.1% greater risk of being involved in a car accident, compared to drivers who had slept 7 to 9 hours within a 24 hour period. According to the Department of Transportation, this risk is the same as driving with a blood alcohol limit that is 1.5 times greater than the legal limit!

Even if you sleep more than 4 but less than 7 hours a night, you’re still at risk. According to the Sleep Review Magazine, “researchers involved in the study also discovered that drivers who reported 6, 5, and 4 hours of sleep in the past 24 hours had 1.3, 1.9, and 2.9, times the odds of responsibility for a crash, respectively, compared with a driver who slept for 7 to 9 hours.”

Just because you are sleepy, but are awake, doesn’t mean you are in the clear either. Drivers that are sleepy simply are not alert, which means they are more likely to make mistakes and not notice something important going on around them such as a pedestrian walking or a motorcycle pulling out in front of them. Drowsy driving also may result in a poor judgment of depth such as the distance between your car and others around you.

What could be causing my poor sleep habits?

If you intentionally go to bed late and get up early, only to be left tired every day, try to rearrange your schedule to fit in enough hours of sleep each night. However, if you go to bed early and you think you are getting enough sleep but still feel tired and drowsy during the day, you could have obstructive sleep apnea, which occurs when the body is not breathing enough air while sleeping. This disorder causes the brain to wake up out of a deep sleep to arouse the body to breathe again. While you may not wake up enough to know you are actually awake, your brain is not sleeping well, thus leaving you tired and drowsy during the day and increasing your risk of an accident.

Sleep Apnea Doctors in Grand Rapids

If this sounds like you, it is time to get a sleep evaluation by the experts at TMJ & Sleep Disorders of Michigan. To learn more about sleep apnea or to schedule a consultation, please call our office at (616) 458-0631.

TMJ & Sleep Disorders of Michigan is here to serve patients in the areas of Grand Rapids, Holland, and Big Rapids, Michigan.