Two drivers show up for the first shift of the day. One has alcohol on her breath--she confesses to downing a couple of beers in the past hour. Do you let her get behind the wheel? Of course not. The second driver is nursing a huge thermos of coffee. He's been up most of the night with a sick child, or studying for a test, or working a second job. Or maybe he's just had some trouble sleeping lately. He assures you he's fine. Would you let him get behind the wheel? Probably. But the experts say he's just as dangerous as the driver who's drunk. Most people equate the term "impaired driving" with driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. But those who study vehicle crashes put drowsy driving in the exact same category. Being awake for 18 hours is comparable to having a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent, which is over the legal limit in most states, according to the nonprofit National Sleep Foundation (Washington, D.C.). "Like alcohol and drugs, sleep loss impairs driving skills such as hand-eye coordination, reaction time, vision, awareness of surroundings, decision-making, judgment, and inhibition," the NSF says. This can lead to crashes that vary in seriousness from a fender bender to a fatality. Make sure you and your drivers don't become a drowsy-driving statistic. Take steps to combat fatigue before and after the driver gets behind the wheel.
展开▼
