Traveling for Turkey?

The Drive-Ride Team would like to urge you to use your seat belt during the Thanksgiving holiday, one of the most heavily traveled times of the year.

In 2008, seat belts saved an estimated 13,250 lives. An additional 4,152 lives could have been saved if seat belts had been worn at the time of the crashes.

Source: NHTSA (pdf)

 

Drowsy Driving Prevention Week

November 2 - 8, 2009

Studies show more than half of all fall-asleep crashes involve drivers age 25 years or younger.

According to the National Sleep Foundation’s 2009 Sleep in America Poll, 1% or 1.9 million drivers have had a car crash or a near crash due to drowsiness in the past year.

Source: National Sleep Foundation
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November 4, 2009

Thank you to the students that shared their experiences and participated in the Crash T-shirt give away.

Preventing a Fall-Asleep Crash

• Get a good night’s sleep before a long drive.
• Get off the road if you notice any of the warning signs of fatigue.
• Take a nap – find a safe place to take a 5 to 20-minute nap.
• Consume caffeine – the equivalent of 2 cups of coffee can increase alertness for several hours, but DO NOT rely on it for long periods.
• Try consuming caffeine before taking a short nap to get the benefits of both.
• Drive with a friend. A passenger who remains awake can help watch for signs of fatigue in the driver and can take a turn driving, if necessary.
• Always wear your seatbelt.

Source: http://drowsydriving.org/about/detection-and-prevention/

Chronic All-Nighters?

"When you're chronically drunk, you can't tell when you're drunk. If you're chronically sleep deprived, you can't tell when you're sleepy. You lose the ability to detect how tired you are. It's not unusual to fall asleep behind the wheel," said Dr. David Schulman, the current medical director of the Emory Clinic Sleep Disorders Laboratory.

Sleepiness, like alcohol, slows reaction time, impairs  judgment, and decreases awareness. All these significantly increases the risk of a crash. Source

Most of us would like to think we'd pull over if we were too tired. But most of the symptoms of being too tired are difficult to notice, particularly when sleep deprived. We react to sleep deprivation long before we actually fall asleep at the wheel. So, how many of these things have happened to you behind the wheel?

• Difficulty focusing, frequent blinking, or heavy eyelids
  
• Daydreaming; wandering/disconnected thoughts
  
• Trouble remembering the last few miles driven; missing exits or traffic signs
  
• Yawning repeatedly or rubbing your eyes
  
• Trouble keeping your head up
  
• Drifting from your lane, tailgating, or hitting a shoulder rumble strip
  
• Feeling restless and irritable

Source: National Sleep Foundation

how anti-sleep alarms work

Rules of the Road

Which of the following 'rules of the road' pertain to Iowa bicyclists?

a. You must wear a helmet according to law.
b. You must be aware of the correct hand signals by law to safely inform motorists of your movements.
c. You must obey traffic signals.
d. A and B
e. B and C

Answer

Multi-tasking

How much time does texting take away the average driver's attention from the road?

a. Not at all - the driver's eyes are always at least partially paying attention to what is happening.
b. 1.3 seconds: Just enough time to text 'LOL'.
c. 2.8 seconds: Just enough time to text 'OMG, G2G'.
d. 3.2 seconds: Just enough time time to drive across a parking lot at 55 mph.
e. 4.6 seconds: Just enough time to drive across an entire football field at 55 mph.

Answer

The New York Times created an interactive game that measures how your reaction time is affected by external distractions.

Technologically Distracted

Cell phones and texting. The latest and greatest tech tools.

Cell phones and texting are not just dangerous on the road, but believe it or not, while walking.

Dual-tasking slows reaction time. Some people may pride themselves in multi-tasking, but when you are spreading your concentration over multiple activities, you choose what tasks you are thinking about the most. For instance, walking home and talking on the phone. Concentration is divided between walking, holding the phone, the conversation, the stop lights, and the road. What stops you from walking into oncoming traffic?

Source: www.apa.org/monitor/2009/02/dangerous.html