Sleep Deprivation Negatively Influences Driving Performance

Road traffic injuries are estimated to be the 5th leading cause of death within the next 15 years, with the current yearly death toll reaching 1.3 million (Gresser, 2014; ASIRT, 2016). The average person is generally awake for around 16 hours a day, however sometimes within busy lives sleep may become a last priority between family and work, and thus extending the period a person is awake (Williamson Feyer, 2000). In this essay, it will be argued that sleep deprivation negatively influences driving performance, as it has been found that driving for long periods of time or after sleep deprivation leads to poor driving performance as levels of alertness are low. Two empirical studies have been chosen to support this argument, by Otmani, Pebayle, Roge, and Muzet (2004) and Williamson and Feyer (2000). The general findings of both studies agreed that performance was impaired in sleep deprived subjects (Williamson et al. 2000; Otmani, Pebayle, Roge, Muzet, 2004). An article by Williams and Feyer (2000), investigated the effects of sleep deprivation and Blood Alcohol Concentrations (BAC) on driving performance. The aim was to compare these two factors to determine the level of sleep deprivation at which showed equivalent driving performance of hazardous BAC (Williamson Feyer, 2000). To do this, two independent variables were manipulated – BAC and sleep deprivation. The levels tested for BAC included, 0.025%, 0.05%, 0.075 and 0.1%. For sleep deprivation theShow MoreRelatedSleep Deprivation And Sleep Deficiency1774 Words   |  8 PagesKevin Touch Ms. Acosta-Mata English 4 AP 6 Oct. 2015 Sleep Deprivation: A Bane to Men, Women and Children alike It was 12:30 am in the morning and Israel Joubert and his family was driving home after a family reunion. Joubert had hoped to get to his workplace on time at 8 am in the town of Fort Worth. 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