Is this you? - Have you had less than 7 to 8 hours of sleep? - Has it been longer than 12 hours since you slept? - Do you drive long distances without rest breaks? - Do you drive through the night or the early afternoon when you are usually sleepy? - Are you taking medication that causes drowsiness? - Have you had any alcoholic beverages before getting on the road? - Are you driving alone? - Do you drive on long, rural, monotonous roads? - Do you travel frequently? Young adults are at high risk. Sleep-related crashes are most common in young people, who tend to stay up late, sleep too little, and drive at night. In a North Carolina state study: - 55% of fall-asleep crashes involved people 25-years-old or younger. - 78% were males. - The peak age of occurrence was 20. Source: National Sleep Foundation You're right! Young people need more sleep. In fact, sleep experts find that teenagers and young people need more sleep than people in their 30s. They often get less, because they enjoy staying up late and often have a wide range of activities, including school, work and a busy social life. Teenagers and young adults who get up early tend to feel alert in the evening. They think that means they don't need much sleep. The problem is, the temporary alertness wears off later, and they can wind up at the end of the night facing the drive home while being very drowsy. Source: AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety Top of the Page Go Back to Home