Sleepy Driving

Sleepy driving is a serious problem that can lead to car crashes. Sleepiness causes motor vehicle accidents because it impairs concentration and can lead to the driver falling asleep at the wheel.

Important aspects of driving impairment associated with sleepiness are reaction time, vigilance, attention, and information processing. The exact prevalence is not known in Singapore. Sleepiness-related crashes is an under-recognised problem and may be categorised as fatigue and inattention.

Although society today gives sleep less priority than other activities, sleepiness and performance impairment are responses of the human brain to sleep loss/ deprivation. There is currently nothing that can reduce the human need for sleep. Microsleeps, or involuntary intrusions of sleep or near-sleep, can overcome even the best intentions to remain awake.

Accident Characteristics

A typical crash related to sleepiness has the following characteristics:

• It occurs during late night/early morning, or mid-afternoon
• The crash is likely to be serious
• A single vehicle leaves the roadway
• The driver does not attempt to avoid a crash
• The driver is usually alone in the vehicle