While drunk driving and distracted driving grab most of the
headlines, new research shows that drowsy driving may be even
more deadly than previously estimated. According to the latest
survey by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, nearly 96
percent of Americans say drowsy driving is unacceptable
behavior, yet nearly one-third admit to driving during the past
month while they were so sleepy they couldn’t keep their eyes
open. The frightening finding comes just in advance of Drowsy
Driving Prevention Week, November 6-12, hosted by the National
Sleep Foundation. This comes on the heels of last year’s AAA
Foundation study, Asleep At The Wheel, which found that nearly
one in six fatal crashes, one in eight crashes involving serious
injury, and one in 14 of all crashes in which a passenger
vehicle is towed involved drowsy driving. Drowsy driving isn’t
anything to take lightly, as Jake Nelson, AAA’s Director of
Traffic Safety Advocacy and Research points out, referring to
Foundation findings that two out of five