Driver safety is a matter that garners many studies and plenty of attention across the globe. After all, determining what puts driver safety at risk can help potentially cut down on the number of crashes that drivers face annually.
In studies across the board, distracted driving continually ranks as one of the top issues that threaten driver safety. But how does it do this, and why is it such a problem?
Drowsy driving serves as a distraction
The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration takes a look at distracted driving and its impact on driver safety. Distracted driving actually has several of the same effects on a driver as intoxicated driving, including slowed reflexes and an inability to react to situational and environmental dangers.
Drowsy driving also falls under this category, and that one behavior alone causes numerous deadly crashes every year. In fact, many dangerous and reckless behaviors end up classified as a form of distraction, which is also part of why it has such an enormous impact on overall driver safety.
Other forms of distracted driving
Some examples of distracted driving include texting while driving, the aforementioned drowsy driving, personal grooming, drinking, eating or even chatting with fellow passengers. Anything that takes your eyes from the road, your hands from the wheel and your mind from the task at hand constitute distracted driving.
This is why it poses such a threat to drivers. Distracted driving is all but impossible to completely eliminate, and society at large even considers many of the behaviors relatively safe. As long as this train of thought persists, crashes related to drowsy driving will as well.