Prevalence of Drowsy Driving Crashes

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February 22nd, 2018

This Research Brief describes a study that examined the prevalence of driver drowsiness immediately prior to crashes that occurred in the context of a large-scale naturalistic driving study in which the driving of more than 3,500 people was monitored continuously for a period of several months using in-vehicle cameras and other data collection equipment. Drowsiness was assessed using a validated measure that is based on the percentage of time that a person’s eyes are closed. Using this measure, drowsiness was identified in 8.8%–9.5% of all crashes examined and 10.6%–10.8% of crashes that resulted in significant property damage, airbag deployment, or injury.