For Teen Drivers, Sleep Should Never Be Overrated

Daylight savings time is over and while we gained an extra hour of sleep several weekends ago (my teen driver was thrilled), it also ushers in one of the most dangerous times of the year on the road. According to researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, pedestrians walking during the evening rush hour are three times more likely to be struck and killed by cars in the weeks following the time change.  What’s the problem?

It appears that pedestrians and motorists have gotten used to having more than six months of visibility and are slow to adapt to the dangers posed by darkness.  The researchers found that an average of 37 more pedestrians are killed around 6 p.m. in November than October.  They also determined that the risk at 6 p.m. in November is 11 times greater than the risk during the same hour in April when daylight savings begins. 

I plan to share this information with my 16-year-old son when he crawls out of bed today. I’m writing this on a Sunday morning, so in typical teenage fashion, he takes advantage of the weekend to catch up on sleep.  While I’ll point out to him the importance of being alert for pedestrians, particularly at night, I’ll also reinforce that it’s his responsibility as both a newly permitted driver and a pedestrian (we become the latter the minute we step out of our vehicles) to share the road.

But there’s another issue at play here as we adjust to the time change – sleep.  It seems that young people, who tend to stay up later, sleep too little and drive at night, are involved in more sleep-related crashes.  In a North Carolina state study, 55% of fall-asleep crashes involved people 25 years old or younger.  Males are more likely to crash due to lack of sleep (78 percent) and 20 is the peak age.

Drowsy driving is a huge problem in our country.  According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), one in six fatal crashes, 13 percent of crashes resulting in hospitalization and 7 percent of all crashes in which a passenger vehicle was towed involved a drowsy driver.  To put it into real numbers or people, drowsiness or fatigue has been identified as a principle cause in at least 100,000 police-reported traffic crashes each year, killing more than 1,500 Americans and injuring another 71,000. 

That’s scary stuff – something that should keep us up at night.  But therein lies the rub.  As a nation of car-happy people, ensuring that we’ve gotten enough sleep before getting behind the wheel is quite literally a matter of life and death.  And when it comes to our youngest drivers, sleep is even more important. 

So what’s a parent to do?  Taking a cue from the good folks at the National Sleep Foundation (NSF), we need to help our teens understand that sleep is “food for the brain.”  According to NSF, lack of sleep can make you look tired and feel depressed, irritable or angry (teens are angst ridden enough!).  Even mild sleepiness can hurt your performance — from taking school exams to playing sports or video games.   So it’s essential that teens learn how much sleep they need to function at their best.   For most adolescents that means getting between 8.5 and 9.25 hours of sleep each and every night, so that they get out of bed ready to take on the world – not anxious to crawl back in between the sheets. 

Additionally, as experienced drivers it’s essential that we serve as good role models for our teens.  Not only should we be reinforcing the importance of sleep with our teens, but monitoring the amount of Zzzz’s we’re getting as well.  According to the AAAFoundation for Traffic Safety’s 2010 Traffic Safety Culture Index, while most people say that drowsy driving is a serious safety threat, 27 percent reported having driven in the past 30 days when “they were so tired that they had a hard time keeping their eyes open.”  And the index also found that 18 percent of drivers reported having driven drowsy more than once, with 2 percent reporting they had done it “fairly often.”

Drowsiness is a big problem – especially when it comes to operating a 3,000 pound vehicle.  Sleepiness slows reaction time, impairs vision, causes lapses in judgment, and delays our ability to process information – all essential for driving.  Studies show that being awake for more than 20 hours (not uncommon for teens and young adults, particularly college students cramming for exams) is equivalent to having a blood alcohol concentration or BAC of .08, the level at which you’re legally impaired.  The sleep deprived may even lapse into a 3- to 4-second “microsleep” without realizing it.

Helping our teens (and ourselves) understand the dangers associated with driving drowsy starts with recognizing the signs of fatigue:

• Not remembering the last few miles you’ve driven.
• Drifting from your lane or hitting a rumble strip.
• Experiencing wandering or disconnected thoughts.
• Yawning repeatedly.        
• Having difficulty focusing or keeping your eyes open.
• Tailgating or missing traffic signs.
• Having trouble keeping your head up.
• Repeatedly jerking your vehicle back into the lane.

If you experience any of these symptoms, listen up – your body is telling you to get off the road.  Don’t assume that opening the window or cranking up the volume on your radio will help.  Pull off to a place of safety and take a nap (anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes will often do the trick, I speak from experience).  And while drinking coffee or soda can help, keep in mind that it takes a good 30 minutes for caffeine to enter your bloodstream.

The bottom line is that safety should always be our one and only priority when we’re on the road (regardless of our mode of transport).  And helping teens and young adults understand the importance of sleep, particularly when it comes to safe driving, is a message that can’t be repeated often enough.  Sure, I’m expecting to get the “I know, mom” response when I broach this subject with my son when he finally staggers out of bed, but that’s okay. If my safety nagging gets him to go to bed a little earlier or forgo getting behind the wheel when he’s tired, I’ve done my job.