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Do you think you’re safe whilst driving? Think again! New research has provided shocking figures that reveal that over 3 million Britons have fallen asleep whilst driving… and this is only in the last year!
A survey for the car insurance firm LV suggests that out of 38 million UK drivers, 3.4 million of these have admitted to doze-driving. This equates to almost one in every ten drivers.
One in five of those surveyed owned up to struggling to stay awake behind the wheel, and almost one in three was guilty of driving whilst drowsy!
Many of these drivers attributed their weariness to long monotonous roads, sleep deprivation, long hauls on the way to a holiday, or leaving work late.
The survey also suggests that at an average speed of 50mph, and an average distance of driving whilst dozing of 26 metres (or 85 feet), this equates to over 55, 000 miles covered by drivers who weren’t even fully awake at the wheel in the last year!
Whilst this may sound like an amusing statistic, over the last 5 years at least 3,357 accidents have been caused on UK roads related to motorists driving whilst tired.
John O’ Roarke, The Managing Director of LV Car Insurance has said: Falling asleep while driving, even momentarily, is extremely dangerous but taking regular breaks from driving can help prevent it.
“If you know you are going to be driving long distance, plan ahead and make sure you have sufficient time to rest.”
So if you’re taking a long journey, or driving after a long day, make sure you don’t feel too tired, or simply delay your journey if you do. If you start to feel tired in the middle of a journey, pull over into a service station and drink a cup of strong coffee and take a short nap while you wait for the caffeine to kick in. This may cost you a little time in your day and make the long journey even longer, but if you risk driving whilst tired, it could end up costing you much more.
Safe driving from Britannia!
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