AAA: Drowsy Driving bigger problem than first believed

A new study by AAA shows drowsy driving is a bigger traffic safety issue than first believed.

Because it’s difficult to detect, it’s one of the most under-reported traffic safety issues, the organization reported.

For this study, researchers looked at in-car dashcam videos from more than 700 crashes to see how prevalent it is. According to the video evidence, drowsiness was a factor in 9.5-percent of crashes. That was nearly eight times higher than the federal estimations of 1-2 percent.

“Because a lot of people just want to push themselves to get to wherever they’re trying to get to,” said Salinas Police Officer Kevin Orepeza. “Or they’re just pushing themselves past the point of exhaustion and they’re driving and they shouldn’t be. It’s worse than a DUI driver sometimes.”

Some of the common symptoms: trouble keeping your eyes open, drifting from the lanes, not remembering the last few miles driven.

Salinas police see these kind of crashes. Officer Orepeza recalled a recent one he investigated.

“They looked up and they crashed into a car right in front of them,” Orepeza said. “I took the accident and the driver was not under the influence, I observed him and could see that he hadn’t taken any done any drugs or alcohol and that he was just tired.”

Drivers we spoke to have some tricks for staying awake.

“A cup of coffee is usually helpful, maybe going for a walk beforehand, turning on the radio, or calling somebody on the way home,” said Cole Klick, who works an overnight shift once a week.

“The main red flag is my eyes starting to shut on me, I’m fighting it,” driver Jay Adney said. “You can feel that fighting, that resistance. You’re doing all you can to keep your eyes open and they’re wanting to close which is an obvious red flag. Then you start resorting to the music, loud and the windows down and you go from there..”

Pulling over and getting rest is what AAA said is a driver’s best bet.