It's not unheard of
to have a late night out during the long weekend and then try to catch up on
sleep the night before work. Researchers in Australia, published in the Journal
of the American Medical Association Pediatrics suggesting that this could be a
method that puts people in car accidents at night.
The study collected
data from more than 20,000 drivers aged 17 to 24.
The results
suggested that sleeping six hours or less a night had a 21 percent higher risk
of having a car accident than those who got more than six hours of sleep. In
addition to that, those who got less sleep on the weekends had a 55 percent
increased chance of having a single-car accident, where the car drifts or
swerves off the road, they added.
"This is another challenge to adolescents that
comes with lack of sleep," said Dr. Flaura Winston, co-scientific director
and founder of the Center for Injury Research and Prevention at Children's
Hospital of Philadelphia.
"You have to be ready, body and mind, to
drive," she said. "If you are exhausted, you are neither ready body
nor mind."
"This is a
safety concern," she said. "If the teen doesn't get enough sleep,
then they are at increased risk for crashes, so parents need to step in."
This isn't just a
concern for adolescence, but for young adults as well.
Most accidents (86
percent) happened between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m., the researchers noted.
"Sleeping six
hours a night is enough to put young drivers at significant risk of having a
car crash. With work, study and social commitments, especially on weekends, it
is easy to miss out on the extra hours of sleep we need," Martiniuk said in
a statement.
Less sleep per night
significantly increased the risk for crash for young drivers. Less sleep on
weekend nights increased the risk for run-off-road crashes and crashes
occurring in the late-night hours. This provides rationale for governments and
health care providers to address sleep-related crashes among young drivers. This
provides rationale for governments and health care providers to address
sleep-related crashes among young drivers.
Before you sit at the wheel, make sure you’re well
rested.
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References
Martiniuk
AC, Senserrick T, Lo S, et al. Sleep-Deprived Young Drivers and the Risk for
Crash: The DRIVE Prospective Cohort Study. JAMA Pediatr. 2013;():1-8. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2013.1429.
Flaura
Winston, M.D., PhD, co-scientific director and founder, Center for Injury
Research and Prevention, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia; May 20,
2013, JAMA Pediatrics, online
