Driving while drowsy why you should avoid it

A crash in France that may have involved a driver falling asleep at the wheel throws into relief the dangers of driving while drowsy, says Angela Epstein

 

A terrible crash in which a British father and his two young children died when their car crashed on a French motorway at the weekend may be linked to a lack of sleep.
French accident investigators have said it was possible the driver, 31-year-old John Compton, may have fallen asleep behind the wheel or was distracted by something which caused him to veer off the road, as no other vehicle was involved.
It has happened to us all – fortunately such severe consequences are rare. My latest brush with sleep driving occurred only weeks ago. Dawdling along a traffic-choked M60 at a pace just below that of a lethargic snail, I could feel my eyelids beginning to droop. Had  it not been for the white van man behind me impatiently smacking his horn as soon as the traffic began to inch – and I mean inch – forward, I could easily have drifted off.

Long working hours, energy-sapping commuting, disturbed nights, the endless pace of our so-called 24/7 culture. Or, in my case, a Sunday outing to Southport. Well, you know how soporific sea air can be. Yet throw in the hypnotic boredom of congestion or motorway driving and it’s little wonder that  an epidemic of drowsy driving is now plaguing our roads.
Of course there are those who say they suffer with a motoring version of sleep walking. Known as sleep driving, it’s a condition pop star Tulisa Contostavlos is said to have claimed in mitigation after recently pleading guilty to crashing her Ferrari 458 Spider supercar into another car while driving on the wrong side of the road. (She was banned from driving for 15 months).