As most people have already noticed, the sun is rising later and later in the day and until we set the clocks back it will continue to be extremely dark during the mornings. This has many effects on our bodies, like not wanting to get out of bed because it still feels like it is the middle of the night, the sun doesn’t come out as soon making mornings colder and finally with the mix of driving in the dark and feeling tired because of the lack of sunlight there is a high risk of getting into an accident while driving to work.

Driving tired is just as bad as driving under the influence; while driving tired there is a greater risk of getting into an accident because of the driver having a slower reaction time and because the driver may not be paying full attention to their surroundings. Tired driving accidents usually occur where one car was driven by someone who is alone where injuries tend to be serious or fatal. Another hint that an accident was a result of a tired driver is that skid marks are not visible and other evasive maneuvers were not attempted

Other causes of sleepiness or fatigue are problems with information processing and short term memory. For sleepy drivers, there can be a major problem with directions and sign reading that could lead directly to accidents. This is especially true for drivers who are sleepy while it is dark out because of the lack of visibility in the dark mixed with fatigue. Increased moodiness and aggravated behavior is a result of fatigue and being tired, which can lead to road rage incidents.

Although you cannot control the sun and when it comes up, it is extremely important to take precautions during this time of year to make sure that you are fully awake during your morning commute. Personal injury accidents happen all the time, but can be prevented by taking the appropriate steps to anticipate these problems. Some things that you can do to prevent accidents caused by drowsy driving are getting the appropriate amount of sleep, eating breakfast to jump start your system and increase your energy and most importantly, if you are tired do not get behind the wheel and find another mode of transportation.

If you have any questions about auto accidents caused by tired drivers or have been involved in an auto accident caused by a tired driver please call us at 617-227-1795.