In general, more people over the years have grown aware of the increasing problems in safety associated with microsleeping.
But to understand these problems, it is important to understand what microsleeping is in general.
What is microsleeping?
WebMD discusses the problems associated with microsleeping. First of all, what is it? Microsleeping happens when a person falls asleep for an extremely short period of time, usually one to three seconds. It happens because the person in question is too exhausted to stay awake and their body essentially tries to force them into sleep.
The only way to stop a person from falling into a microsleep is to get enough rest. This is why some drivers will pull into rest stops in order to take a quick nap to recover. Wakefulness tips and tricks unfortunately do very little to help in the long run.
While one to three seconds might not seem like a long time, either, these microsleep bursts come in sets. A person may fall asleep for one to three seconds several times over the course of a half-hour or less.
Why is it an issue?
Because of a person’s inability to react to their surroundings when asleep, this is when many of the worst accidents happen. Any time a person drives off the side of the road or into oncoming traffic, the cause for drowsy drivers usually involves falling asleep at the wheel.
Due to this high risk and level of danger, more people need to have an awareness of just how risky drowsy driving really is.
