1 in 4 Drivers Admits to Drowsy Driving

Here's a scary trend that will make you want to stay of the roads: 1 in 4 adults admits to falling asleep behind the wheel. What's even scarier is that officials believe that number is probably higher because other people don't realize that they fall asleep behind the wheel for a couple of seconds.

The Centers for Disease Control discovered that 1 in 4 adults have fallen asleep behind the wheel after conducting a study of 147,000 adults in 19 states. The study is the largest one conducted yet on the topic, although other studies have found similar results. The CDC also found that drowsy driving was more common among men, people between the ages of 25 and 34, and those who got less than six hours of sleep per night. But Maybe the oddest finding of all in the study was that Texans were more likely to drive drowsy, which perplexed researchers. However, they speculate that maybe there was a larger sample of sleep-deprived young Texans or that Texans may get worse quality of sleep for reasons such as sleep apnea related to obesity.

Regardless of the strange results for Texas, the government estimates that about 3% of traffic fatalities across the U.S. involve a drowsy driver. Even a few seconds of drowsy driving can be dangerous and there are ways you can tell if you're too tired to drive. For example, if you don't remember the last mile or two of driving or you could drifting off onto the rumble strips on the road, those are signs you should get off the road and sleep. To prevent drowsy driving, get 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night, treat any sleep disorders that would prevent quality sleep, and don't drink any alcohol before driving.