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Fatigue at the Wheel: What are the Dangers of Microsleep while Driving?

March 28th 2022

Microsleep involves a brief, intermittent moment of sleep often caused by sleep deprivation that can often happen without you noticing it. In fact, if you ever have felt your eyelids droop for just a fraction of a second while driving down the highway, you may have experienced microsleep [1]. Some of the facial signs of drowsiness and behavioral microsleep include prolonged eyelid exposure, increased blink duration, slow eye movements, and drifting head nods [2].

Microsleep during driving can have disastrous consequences. According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, around 16.5% of fatal car crashes in the US are caused by microsleep [3]. Even microsleeping for a couple of seconds at 60 mph can lead to your car traveling 300 feet in the wrong direction [4]. A 2008 study sought to determine if drivers experienced deterioration in driver performance during microsleep compared to performance during wakefulness [5]. During the 60-minute driving simulation, they found that drowsy drivers showed slower driving speed and higher speed variability in comparison with wakefulness periods. They also found that during microsleep episodes, drivers showed greater variability in maintaining lane position.

In another experiment with a driving simulator, researchers explored the effects of overnight driving on episodes of microsleep and subsequent crashes [6]. As time since sleep increased, episodes of microsleep and crashes rapidly increased. Duration of microsleeps also increased, and the mean variation of the lateral lane position almost doubled during microsleep periods. This indicates that microsleep during driving periods can have serious consequences.

How can we prevent microsleep?

While the leading cause of microsleep is sleep deprivation, there are additional ways to prevent microsleep during driving besides maintaining a healthy sleep schedule. Some tips include taking power naps, taking a short break to get up and moving, or having some caffeine [4]. Another tip is to talk to someone while driving, as talking “wakes up” the brain cells and pushes extra oxygen into the bloodstream [4].

If you would like to learn more about this subject, contact us today and we can connect you with one of our LISKE Team Experts who have studied this topic extensively.

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[1] https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-microsleep-signs-youre-sleep-deprived-2019-6#:~:text=Microsleep%20involves%20brief%2C%20intermittent%20moments,such%20as%20reading%20or%20driving.

[2] Malla, A. M., Davidson, P. R., Bones, P. J., Green, R., & Jones, R. D. (2010, August). Automated video-based measurement of eye closure for detecting behavioral microsleep. In 2010 Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology (pp. 6741-6744). IEEE.

[3] https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-microsleep-signs-youre-sleep-deprived-2019-6#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20AAA%20Foundation,US%20are%20caused%20by%20microsleep.

[4] https://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/what-to-know-microsleep

[5] Boyle, L. N., Tippin, J., Paul, A., & Rizzo, M. (2008). Driver performance in the moments surrounding a microsleep. Transportation research part F: traffic psychology and behaviour11(2), 126-136.

[6] Golz, M., Sommer, D., Krajewski, J., Trutschel, U., & Edwards, D. (2011, June). Microsleep episodes and related crashes during overnight driving simulations. In Proceedings of the Sixth International Driving Symposium on Human Factors in Driver Assessment, Training and Vehicle Design (pp. 39-45).