Falling asleep at the wheel for even a few seconds can be fatal. Yet you do not have to close your eyes to be at risk. Tiredness affects your brain and body, reducing your decision-making ability and lengthening your reaction time.
Tired drivers are more likely to make mistakes that cause a crash, and they are less able to react in time to avoid a collision caused by someone else.
Crashes often happen when someone relaxes mentally, and tiredness overwhelms them. It could be a factory worker getting in the car after surviving the night shift, or it could be an exhausted trucker realizing they are only minutes away from the last drop of a long week.
Should you drive when you are tired?
The obvious solution to reducing fatigue induce crashes is to ensure no one drives when they are tired. However, that is not always simple. You cannot refuse to go to work because your baby kept you awake all night. A long-distance coach driver cannot tell the passengers the ride ends here because he needs to go and find a hotel and catch up on sleep.
Modern life can be tiring, yet tired driving makes vehicle crashes more likely. Companies that employ commercial drivers need to ensure these workers get enough rest. The rest comes down to the individual driver, whether driving commercially or for personal reasons.
Anyone that gets behind the wheel must take responsibility for the consequences of their actions. If a driver injures you in a crash, you may need to investigate how much sleep they had recently. Were they in a fit state to drive, or did tiredness cause them to crash?