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Wake Up Call: Drowsy Driving Same As Drunk Driving, Study Finds

DETROIT (WWJ) Wake up! Here's another alarm buzz for anyone who hits the road after a fitful night's sleep.

AAA found that one in every five fatal crashes on the road involves a driver who's just not getting enough sleep. Seven hours of sleep is recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Getting two or three hours less than that quadruples the driver's chances of being in a crash.

It's the equivalent of driving drunk.

Additionally, AAA found sleep-deprived drivers are almost twice as likely to be involved in an accident when they get five to six hours of sleep, more than four times as likely with four to five hours and nearly 12 times more likely to crash with less than four hours of sleep.

WWJ's Charlie Langton talked with metro Detroit commuters about this latest wake-up call.

"I don't think you need that much sleep," said David Burnside of Detroit. "Not at all. I don't get no sleep at all and I'm not a distracted driver."

Another man, who goes by "T," told Langton "Everybody's different, man, you know. Some people can do four, some people, three. You know, I need eight period."

Another man told Langton "I had about three hours and I'm driving fine."

 

 

 

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