Texas Tops Nation In Drowsy Driving Deaths: Study

We all know drunk driving is dangerous, and most of us are learning the hazards of distracted driving as well, but few fail to realize a third form of impairment that caused some 6,000 deadly crashes in 2016 — drowsy driving.

Driving while you're tired is a danger — that's the message being sent by a study from Sleep Junkie and Amerisleep. But it's easy to chug down some coffee and disregard those drooping eyelids. Here's why you should reconsider before seating your tired body behind the wheel — especially during your morning commute.

Texas has seen the impact of drowsy driving far more than any other state has. In fact, Texans die in drowsy driving related car crashes at a rate almost four times higher than that of California, the nation's No. 3 state for drowsy driving fatalities.

When broken down, that means roughly one in every five exhaustion-related traffic death in the United States in 2016 occurred in Texas.

It's not clear why Texas has such a high rate of drowsy driving collisions, but sheer population size isn't to blame. California, the population of which exceeds that of Texas by more than 10 million residents, only accounted for 5.3 percent of nationwide deaths.

An NBC report from February states drowsy driving fatalities happen in Texas about 6.8 times more often in rural areas than in urban areas. While no one can say definitively, highway hypnosis may be to blame in Texas' abnormally high number of crashes. In short, long-haul drivers are more likely to experience drowsy driving than around-town commuters.

To formulate the research, Sleep Junkie and Amerisleep took a look at data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in an effort to help drivers be more alert and safer while on the road.

What researchers found is that drowsy driving accidents follow a trend with more crashes happening on Sunday and Monday mornings — 5:00 to 6:00 a.m., to be specific.

Drowsy driving deaths also peak in June, suggesting summertime celebrations result in later nights and sleepier mornings.

The report explains the nature of the accidents as well, suggesting most of these accidents happened when the driver fell asleep behind the wheel. According to the report, almost 67 percent of these crashes happened when the driver struck an inanimate object such as a barricade or tree.

Next in line, but topping the charts for most horrific, comes head-on crashes. The data states around 15 percent of these crashes happened when a driver fell asleep, swerved into an oncoming lane and struck another car head-on. This figure makes it easy to see that drowsy driving is a danger to everyone on the road and not just the sleepy driver himself.

Amerisleep suggests vigilance and adequate rest are the keys to staying safe on the roadways. While you can't control how others drive, you can make sure you're alert and reactive by ensuring you get a good night's rest each night. As the report states, "If you have any doubts about your ability to remain awake behind the wheel, don’t take the risk of foregoing rest."

>>> You can see the full report and methodology on Sleep Junkie's website.

Image via Shutterstock/propositive

Editor's note: Amerisleep is not a Patch promotional partner. These data sets are used solely for news dissemination purposes.