Tired driving warning
June 11, 2007 by admin
Filed under News, News-Insurance
Motorists are being warned of the dangers of driving while tired, following new research from insurance firm esure.com.
The company has published a report, entitled ‘Yawning Nation’ and found that driving a long distance is the most likely everyday activity to make you yawn.
A total of 44.2 per cent said that sitting behind the wheel for a long time leads to them feeling quite sleepy and an astonishing eight per cent admit to having fallen asleep while driving.
The dangers associated with this are massive and well publicised and many drivers say that they try to take action to counteract the effects of tiredness.
The majority of people, 81 per cent, open the window in order to remain awake, while a further 64 per cent turn on the air conditioning.
Music is often used, with 50 per cent singing along to the radio or a CD and 43 per cent playing loud music.
Despite this, experts point out that most people are simply wasting their time with these ’stimulating’ methods.
“The methods that drivers say they are using to keep themselves awake in the car are all ineffective. They will not stop people from falling asleep unintentionally or fend off a distracting yawn,” warned Dr Chris Idzikowski from the Edinburgh Sleep Centre.
“The only thing to counteract tiredness behind the wheel of the car and fully recharge the human battery is having caffeine followed by two closely spaced 20 to 30 minute naps before setting out.”
