With Sunday’s time change, that means it is now getting dark much earlier. If you get off work at 6 p.m., you will drive home in total darkness. Governor Landry has used the occasion of the end of daylight saving time to proclaim this week as Drowsy Driving Prevention Week, which is a national campaign led by the National Sleep Foundation. Greg Fischer with the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission says sleep deprivation is on par with intoxication.
“According to the National Sleep Foundation, getting less than four hours of sleep at night increases the crash risk. Roughly as much as a blood alcohol content level of 0.12,” Fischer said.
Fischer says when it comes to driving, doing so after depriving yourself of sleep is the same as doing so after drinking to the point of exceeding the legal blood-alcohol limit.
“That would be the equivalent of consuming two to three drinks of an average-size woman or three to four drinks an average-size man,” Fischer said.
Fischer says drowsy driving has had deadly consequences in Louisiana.
“We have documented 58 fatal crashes, over the last five-year period, that are due to drowsy driving,” Fischer noted.
