"Asleep At The Wheel: The Dangers Of Driver Fatigue"
05-17-2007 | 04:58 PM
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"Asleep At The Wheel: The Dangers Of Driver Fatigue"
Originally Posted by CityNews
"Asleep At The Wheel: The Dangers Of Driver Fatigue
Wednesday May 16, 2007
You've heard the old expression 'asleep at the wheel'? It no longer just means people who aren't paying attention to what they're doing at work or in life. It's also come to mean exactly what it says - people nodding off while they're driving. It's a serious problem with potentially deadly consequences. And in our work-more-and-sleep-less world, it can be deadly. Figures show fatigued drivers kill at least 400 Canadians a year, and one in five - an astounding four million of us - have acknowledged nodding off while we're in the driver's seat.
But while cops can catch drunk drivers and those impaired on other substances, the sleep-deprived steerers are a lot harder to detect. Experts suggest those who suffer from extreme fatigue (more than 17 hours without shuteye) are the equivalent of having a blood alcohol level of .05 percent and present as big a hazard as a drunk driver.
In fact, 20 percent of all those asked admit they've nodded off in the driver's seat at least once this year. That translates into one in five car deaths. And those numbers worry the Insurance Bureau of Canada which held a symposium on the problem in Toronto on Wednesday. They warn it's not just at night - one of the worst times comes between 3 and 5pm, when people are just finishing a long day at work.
Motorists know they're vulnerable. "It's quite scary, actually," admits a driver named Carmen. You feel yourself drowsing off and then wake back up and then ...." His voice trails off but the implications are clear.
What can be done about it? Just about everyone has their own solutions. Some play loud music. Others open the window for a cold blast of air. None of those work. Neither does getting a jolt of caffeine, which can provide a short term wake-up but leave you even more drowsy than you were before.
"There's only one secure strategy for when you are tired, and you are in the car," answers the Bureau's Mark Yakabuski. "And that is to get off the road and to take a real nap for at least 20-30 minutes."
Here are the eight questions to ask yourself as your eyes start to close on the road.
Do your eyelids droop or does your vision get blurry?
Do you have trouble keeping your head up?
Do you drift between lanes, tailgate or miss traffic signs?
Are you unable to stop yawning?
Do your thoughts wander?
Do you not remember driving the last few miles?
Have you drifted off the road or had a near miss?
Do you keep jerking the vehicle back into the lane? "
Wednesday May 16, 2007
You've heard the old expression 'asleep at the wheel'? It no longer just means people who aren't paying attention to what they're doing at work or in life. It's also come to mean exactly what it says - people nodding off while they're driving. It's a serious problem with potentially deadly consequences. And in our work-more-and-sleep-less world, it can be deadly. Figures show fatigued drivers kill at least 400 Canadians a year, and one in five - an astounding four million of us - have acknowledged nodding off while we're in the driver's seat.
But while cops can catch drunk drivers and those impaired on other substances, the sleep-deprived steerers are a lot harder to detect. Experts suggest those who suffer from extreme fatigue (more than 17 hours without shuteye) are the equivalent of having a blood alcohol level of .05 percent and present as big a hazard as a drunk driver.
In fact, 20 percent of all those asked admit they've nodded off in the driver's seat at least once this year. That translates into one in five car deaths. And those numbers worry the Insurance Bureau of Canada which held a symposium on the problem in Toronto on Wednesday. They warn it's not just at night - one of the worst times comes between 3 and 5pm, when people are just finishing a long day at work.
Motorists know they're vulnerable. "It's quite scary, actually," admits a driver named Carmen. You feel yourself drowsing off and then wake back up and then ...." His voice trails off but the implications are clear.
What can be done about it? Just about everyone has their own solutions. Some play loud music. Others open the window for a cold blast of air. None of those work. Neither does getting a jolt of caffeine, which can provide a short term wake-up but leave you even more drowsy than you were before.
"There's only one secure strategy for when you are tired, and you are in the car," answers the Bureau's Mark Yakabuski. "And that is to get off the road and to take a real nap for at least 20-30 minutes."
Here are the eight questions to ask yourself as your eyes start to close on the road.
Do your eyelids droop or does your vision get blurry?
Do you have trouble keeping your head up?
Do you drift between lanes, tailgate or miss traffic signs?
Are you unable to stop yawning?
Do your thoughts wander?
Do you not remember driving the last few miles?
Have you drifted off the road or had a near miss?
Do you keep jerking the vehicle back into the lane? "
05-17-2007 | 06:18 PM
#2
Originally Posted by CityNews
"There's only one secure strategy for when you are tired, and you are in the car," answers the Bureau's Mark Yakabuski. "And that is to get off the road and to take a real nap for at least 20-30 minutes."
05-17-2007 | 06:22 PM
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I've roasted some asleep at the tree
They did a test on 20/20? where they pitted drunks against fatiqued and distracted drivers.
The distracted ones were by far the worst. The drunks and the sleepies at least tried to avoid crashes...the distracted weren't even looking (cell phone, writing things down, playing with radio etc.) High probability of fatalities.
None of the test vehicles were modified though which clearly would have changed everything.
They did a test on 20/20? where they pitted drunks against fatiqued and distracted drivers.
The distracted ones were by far the worst. The drunks and the sleepies at least tried to avoid crashes...the distracted weren't even looking (cell phone, writing things down, playing with radio etc.) High probability of fatalities.
None of the test vehicles were modified though which clearly would have changed everything.
05-17-2007 | 07:50 PM
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None of the test vehicles were modified though which clearly would have changed everything.
And sleepy people kill over 400 a year??? wow, thats almost as many fatalities as street racing......
05-17-2007 | 07:56 PM
#5
Originally Posted by civtegra90
Oh, of couse. Cause you know that everyone who's car has been modified to go well over 200kmh cruises at that speed all the time....
And sleepy people kill over 400 a year??? wow, thats almost as many fatalities as street racing......
And sleepy people kill over 400 a year??? wow, thats almost as many fatalities as street racing......
05-17-2007 | 08:16 PM
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Originally Posted by civtegra90
Oh, of couse. Cause you know that everyone who's car has been modified to go well over 200kmh cruises at that speed all the time....
And sleepy people kill over 400 a year??? wow, thats almost as many fatalities as street racing......
And sleepy people kill over 400 a year??? wow, thats almost as many fatalities as street racing......
05-17-2007 | 10:10 PM
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dunno bout any of you, but I've never killed anyone racing, nobody I know has ever killed anyone, no one has even suffered a papercut. we've never even impeded traffic and rarely ever see any cops, but I guess thats what happens when you organize properly...
two years ago the cops saw us starting to set up at our old location in an industrial park, so we all fuked off. later that night we were all sitting in timmies when the cops came in on break, they told us to go to this other popular road cause it is out of their jurisdiction, it was awesome. made our night
two years ago the cops saw us starting to set up at our old location in an industrial park, so we all fuked off. later that night we were all sitting in timmies when the cops came in on break, they told us to go to this other popular road cause it is out of their jurisdiction, it was awesome. made our night
05-18-2007 | 11:06 PM
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Originally Posted by rabbitman
Been there, done that. Just stop, don't try and keep yourself awake, getting there is the important part, not getting there 30 minutes sooner.
Man gotta love those 8 question to ask youself when you get sleepy..lolol
06-24-2007 | 02:57 PM
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Nap.
I used to work the night shift then drive the wifey to work in the morning. Ive actually nodded asleep for like a second a couple of times. I used to get really pissed off and had to keep telling myself to not close my eyes or else im done. Ive bumped cars in front of me at stoplights twice cause i had a habit of resting my eyes at the stops and dozing off. I know Im an idiot but had no choice at the time.
06-24-2007 | 04:15 PM
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Originally Posted by broke_but_fast
I used to work the night shift then drive the wifey to work in the morning. Ive actually nodded asleep for like a second a couple of times. I used to get really pissed off and had to keep telling myself to not close my eyes or else im done. Ive bumped cars in front of me at stoplights twice cause i had a habit of resting my eyes at the stops and dozing off. I know Im an idiot but had no choice at the time.
THE PULL OVER POWER NAP will do you good.
I had someone bump into me one time cuz they fell asleep. Lucky there was no damage done to my vehicle... and the other car was damaged pretty nice.... LOL
