971-405-6660
Although the rate of teenage car accidents is high, there seems to be new studies coming out every day that reinforce this fact. And often we see the same factors playing a role – alcohol, texting, distracted by friends or fiddling with the radio or MP3 player. Inattentive or distracted driving habits, including lack of sleep, can result in car accidents that can become fatal to all parties involved.
According to a new study on teenage driving and teenage car collisions, teens who get more sleep at night are safer behind the wheel. In today’s hectic world, many Americans do not get the right amount of sleep; therefore, the safety of more driver age groups may also be affected by their level of sleep.
The study compared teenage driver crash rates for teenagers ages 16 to 18 and high school start times in two communities in Virginia. In Virginia Beach, high school starts around 7:20 a.m. and in nearby Chesapeake, high school begins near 8:40 a.m. The teen driver crash rate in Virginia Beach was 65.8 car crashes for every 1,000 teen drivers, and the teen crash rate in Chesapeake was 46.6 car accidents for every 1,000 teen drivers.
The study observed that teenagers who attended high school earlier were not as alert while driving and more likely to experience sleep loss leading to daytime sleepiness. Researchers concluded that high school students who attended high school later were more alert because they were probably receiving more sleep. On average, it is recommended that adults receive seven to eight hours of sleep every night. Teens should receive nine hours of sleep. Even though busy schedules can interfere with any of our schedules, all drivers and especially teens can afford to get more sleep in order be safer on the road.