A QUT study finds that drivers under the age of 30 are more likely to drive drowsy than drunk, according to Medical Xpress.
The study, which examined the perceptions of sleepy driving and drink driving of 114 young drivers (under 30) and 177 drivers over 30, found young drivers were more likely to drive sleepy than drunk and more accepting of enforcement practices for drink driving than they are for sleepy driving,” says road safety researcher Chris Watling.
“What this shows is that drivers, in particular young drivers, don’t view equally the dangers of drink driving and sleepy driving despite the crash risks being similar,” he said.
Mr Watling said sleepiness had been shown to significantly impair a person’s cognitive and psychomotor abilities, which impact safety-critical tasks such as driving, attention, working memory and coordination.
He said younger drivers were also more likely to be impaired by sleepiness because of the natural developmental maturing of the body’s sleep-wake systems in early adulthood.
