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Get off the road at signs of fatigue
By Tracy Wheeler
Beacon Journal medical writer
Published on Tuesday, Mar 25, 2008
Would any responsible parents allow their teenager to drink and drive?
Of course not.
Would those same parents snatch the car keys out of their teens' hands if the kids didn't get enough sleep the night before?
Probably not, says Dr. Frankie Roman, but they should.
Roman, a sleep specialist with Neurology & Neuroscience Associates Inc. in Akron, has made drowsy driving a passion of his. He wants teens and their parents to know that driving while sleepy is a significant cause of auto accidents and death.
He knows what people are thinking, though: ''Drowsy driving? Give me a break.'' Even some of his own colleagues laughed at him, after he was part of the National Sleep Foundation's efforts to establish the first National Drowsy Driving Week last November.
''People made fun of Mothers Against Drunk Driving in 1980,'' he said. ''Look how far society's view of drunk driving has come since then.''
He wants to see the same happen with drowsy driving.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that drowsy driving leads to 100,000 crashes a year — more than half happening to drivers under 25 — resulting in 1,550 deaths, 71,000 injuries and $12.5 million in losses. (By comparison, alcohol-impaired driving resulted in 13,470 deaths for all ages in 2006.)
Annual surveys by the National Sleep Foundation have found that half of American adults have driven
drowsy, with 20 percent admitting they've actually fallen asleep at the wheel. Among teens, 16 percent of high school juniors and 21 percent of seniors admit falling asleep while driving.
''It's a very common problem,'' Roman said. ''We've given the speech about drinking and driving to our kids, but we never gave the speech on drowsy driving.''
Part of the problem is that it's not easy to detect sleepiness; there's no breath test to check whether a person is tired. Also, statistics are lacking. While NHTSA can report that nearly one-third of the 15- to 20-year-old drivers who died in crashes in 2003 had been drinking, it's unclear how that percentage compares to drowsy drivers, because drowsiness is often listed as a contributing factor on police reports.
A 2006 report by NHTSA found that ''drowsiness is a significant problem that increases a driver's risk of a crash or near-crash by at least a factor of four. But drowsy driving may be significantly under-reported in police crash investigations.''
Tragic example
The tragic consequences were evident two weeks ago in Marlboro Township, when an 18-year-old driving home from his first night working an overnight shift fell asleep behind the wheel of his pickup truck, drifted left of center and struck another truck head-on. Brandon Mowls, 18, survived. The driver of the other truck, Paul Cook, 52, of Lexington Township, did not.
The NHTSA report, which also cited cell phone use as a common distraction for drivers, said that nearly 80 percent of crashes and 65 percent of near-crashes involved some form of driver inattention within three seconds of the accident.
Lifesaving tips
What can parents do to make sure their teens aren't too sleepy to drive? Roman suggests:
• Limit your teen's schedule and pay attention to the underlying issues. Is your child burning the candle at both ends? Is your teen getting up early for sports practice and staying up late to study or watch TV?
''Teens require a tremendous amount of sleep — eight to 10 hours a night,'' he said. ''However, at this important part of their lives, they're pushing the envelope.''
• Be aware if they're using medications that might cause drowsiness.
• Try to set a sleep schedule and have them stick to it as much as possible.
• Talk to them. Make it clear that driving while tired is dangerous.
For those who may find themselves nodding off behind the wheel, Roman and the National Sleep Foundation suggest:
• Get off the road as soon as signs of fatigue start to show.
• Take a 15- to 20-minute nap in a safe, well-lighted area, or get out of the car and walk around.
• Drink some caffeine, equivalent to two cups of coffee, though that may take 10 to 20 minutes to have an effect.
''You hear people say, just put the radio on louder, open your windows,'' Roman said. ''That's probably effective for 10 seconds. You just can't go against nature.''
Tracy Wheeler can be reached at 330-996-3721 or tawheeler@thebeaconjournal.com.
Would any responsible parents allow their teenager to drink and drive?
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