Traffic Accidents in Knoxville & Your Drowsy Driving Risks

Driving when overtired or when you are falling asleep may seem like the type of thing that common sense says you should never do. After all, if your eyes are closing and you are fighting to keep yourself awake, you obviously aren’t going to do a very good job of watching the road around you and making smart driving choices.

Unfortunately, while it might seem logical to assume that no one would ever drive drowsy, or keep driving once they’d fallen asleep, the fact is that people do this all the time. In fact, our Knoxville auto accident attorneys have recently taken a look at a new study by the Centers for Disease Control that indicates drowsy driving is a surprisingly common- and dangerous- reality.

How Often Does Drowsy Driving Occur?

The CDC has undertaken an ambitious study, interviewing a grand total of 147,076 people. These people came from 19 states plus Washington D.C. and they spanned both genders as well as all age groups old enough to drive. Unfortunately, many of the respondents had something in common: they had driven when they were too tired to do so safely.

The CDC study revealed that drowsy driving is a widespread problem and a serious public health concern, especially among certain age groups most likely to drive when drowsy. According to the CDC data, for example:

• Of all 147,076 drivers surveyed, 4.2 percent admitted they’d actually fallen asleep (including closing their eyes for a few seconds or more) as they were driving in the 30 days before they responded to the survey.
• Among the drivers in the 18-24 age group, 4.9 percent reported falling asleep. This is slightly above the overall average.
• Drivers ages 25 to 34 were actually the group that overwhelmingly reported falling asleep when driving. In fact, 6.3 percent of drivers in this age group reported nodding off when they were operating their cars. This age group is especially likely to have young children and work pressures, which helps to explain why they may be the most likely to nod off.
• Drivers 65 and older were the group least likely to drive drowsy, perhaps because the leisure of retirement affords more time to rest According to the CDC survey, only 1.7 percent of drivers 65+ reported falling asleep as they drove.
• Men were much more likely than women to engage in driving while drowsy. 5.3 percent of the males responding to the survey admitted to falling asleep while driving. By contrast, only 3.2 percent of women admitted to doing the same.
• Those who had less education than either a high school diploma or GED were slightly more likely to drive drowsy. 4.8 percent of people in this group admitted to nodding off, as compared with 4 percent of respondents with just a high school diploma or GED and 4.2 percent of drivers who had attended at least some college.

As these statistics show, there are a lot of drowsy drivers out there and a drowsy driver could be just about anyone on the roads. Unfortunately, drowsy drivers endanger themselves and they also endanger other people who happen to be on the road at the same time. If you were hurt by a drowsy driver causing a car wreck, you may be able to get compensation for your injuries.

If you are interested in pursuing a Knoxville injury case, contact G. Turner Howard III, Attorney at Law at (844) G3-Help-Me or 865-558-8030.