At least 10-percent of fatal crashes in Utah are caused by drowsy driving.
Drowsy driving is just as dangerous as driving under the influence.
“Usually, the majority of the crashes occur when the person is less than an hour away from their home or their origin,” said Robert Hull, head of the Zero Fatalities campaign at the Utah Department of Transportation.
“The public has got to get the message: Tired and drowsy driving kills people and it severely injures people,” said UHP Lt. Lee Perry.
Within the next sixty days, the Utah Department of Transportation plans to install a series of drowsy driving road signs between Weber and Box Elder counties.
Signs now can be found on I-15 in southern Utah, I-70 in central Utah and I-80 in Tooele County.
Here are the statistics:
- Nearly half of the drowsy driving accidents nationwide are caused by people 25 and younger.
- Male drivers were almost two times more likely to be in a crash
- 6 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. had the highest number of incidents
- Crashes in rural counties were 3.4 times more likely to involve drowsy driving than urban counties
- Utah counties with the highest percentage of drowsy driving crashes were Juab, Millard, Daggett, Piute and Sevier.
- In the past three years, Utah has averaged 1,220 crashes and 32 deaths each year because of someone fell asleep behind the wheel killing people.
Source: Utah Highway Patrol
What are the warning signs of fatigue?
- Failure to remember the last few miles driven;
- Wandering or disconnected thoughts;
- Difficulty focusing or keeping eyes open, and keeping head up;
- Drifting from lane;
- Yawning repeatedly;
- Tailgating or missing signs;
- Quickly pulling car back into lane
Web sites for more information:
Utah Department of Public Safety http://publicsafety.utah.gov
Utah Department of Transportation http://udot.utah.gov
Utah Highway Patrol http://highwaypatrol.utah.gov
Drowsy Driving.Org http://drowsydriving.org
New York State Highway Safety http://www.nysgtsc.state.ny.us
