How Driving While Tired Can Make You a Car Accident Victim

Imagine this scenario: You just got off work and are driving through the downtown area. As you are driving, you suddenly lose consciousness before jerking awake and regaining control of the steering wheel. Thankfully, no other motorist was affected by your actions. As drastic and scary as this sounds, it is an unfortunate and surreal reality that often has tragic consequences instead of happy endings.

Drowsy drivers cause many Las Vegas area car accidents. Motorists are not fully alert or conscious of their actions enough to avoid accident-causing hazards. To keep the above scenario from occurring and having disastrous or even fatal results, consider the following pointers on driving while drowsy:

Drowsiness kills

The road is a fast-paced environment where split-second decisions are made and can have tragically devastating results. Sleepy motorists lose precious time where they could be reacting and defensively navigating through traffic instead of frequently yawning, blinking profusely, nodding off and falling asleep at the wheel. They are unable to avoid collision hazards and crash into another vehicle, building or pedestrian, or their vehicle goes through a guardrail and falls off the side of the road, risking severe injuries and death.

Drowsy driving is very preventable

You, like most people, have a busy life and have gotten used to functioning off six or fewer hours of sleep each night. Driving has become such an autonomous physical response that many individuals believe that the driver’s seat is a safe and appropriate place to relax and sleep. The dangers and risk of tragic consequences increase when the hours of sleep a person gets diminishes.

Regardless of how busy you are, you can always use other safe and appropriate tactics to catch up on sleep instead while you are in the driver’s seat. Start off by going to bed earlier, taking naps throughout the day, taking breaks, stretching, drinking caffeinated beverages and using other modes of transportation to avoid causing car accidents and hurting or killing yourself or others.