Drowsy driving put to sleep 4,000 motorists in one year

Recent statistics released by Riyadh’s General Directorate of Traffic show that 4,000 people died because of drowsy driving in Saudi Arabia in 2014.
According to a study carried out by the directorate, 70 percent of these accidents occurred on highways, 40 percent of them on the Jeddah-Madinah Expressway. The Kingdom has among the world’s most dangerous roads with 19 people being killed in accidents daily.
A recent scientific study proved that lack of enough sleep is one of the main causes of road accidents in the Kingdom. Researchers at King Saud University’s Center for Sleep Disorder stated that 33 percent of drivers who were part of the six-month-long study claimed to have almost been involved in an accident at least once during the research period. Over 12 percent of the study participants said they were involved in a car accident because of sleep deprivation.
“Researchers conducted a detailed study on sleep deprivation on 1,200 private car drivers in the country and the impact of drowsy driving on car accidents in the Eastern, Central and Western Provinces,” said Ahmed Bahammam, head of the medical research team and director of the center.
According to the study, 64 percent of drivers claimed to have felt a very strong sense of drowsiness that distracted their concentration while driving at least once during the study period. About 25 percent of them actually fell asleep behind the wheel at least once during the six months and 67 percent of all the case participants attributed the main cause of their sleepiness to not getting enough rest during the previous 24 hours.
Bahammam explained that even after analyzing other reasons that may cause an increase in traffic accidents, such as the driver’s age, driving hours and educational levels, sleep deprivation remained the independent factor to predict these accidents.
He urged authorities to embark on a national campaign to increase awareness of the danger of sleep-deprived driving, while warning drivers to get enough sleep before hitting the road, or in the case of those with sleeping disorders, to seek help in order to prevent possible accidents.