Drowsiness is a leading cause of crashes across the nation. Unfortunately, though knowledge of the dangers of drowsy driving has spread, it still remains a major issue and threat to drivers everywhere.
What sort of crashes tend to happen because of drowsy drivers?
Risk factors of drowsy driving
The CDC discusses the impact of drowsiness on drivers and their safety. As mentioned, drowsiness is a major risk to drivers across the road. This is because a drowsy driver will actually react in ways similar to an intoxicated driver.
This means that they may struggle to pinpoint dangers before they appear, as well as have slower reflexes compared to their rested counterparts.
Of course, there is also the risk of a drowsy driver falling asleep at the wheel. This renders them completely incapable of reacting to any sort of threat that they may come across.
Most common types of crashes
This is also why one of the most common types of crashes for drowsy drivers are rear-end and head-on crashes. When drivers fall asleep even for a few seconds at a time, they cannot see if they begin to drift into oncoming traffic. Drowsy drivers have driven straight across the meridian on a highway before, crashing into other cars.
Rear-end crashes often occur because of sudden traffic jams on the highway. If a person is following too closely to the car in front of them and then dozes off, they will not have the time they need to react before hitting the car in front of them.
Thus, these are the two most common crashes that drowsy drivers tend to get involved in.