Reported by: Wijdan CRWE Newswire Middle East correspondent.

A naturally occurring state characterized by a lack of consciousness and inactivity of all voluntary muscles is called sleep. It helps conserve energy and a lack of sleep can cause mental, emotional and physical fatigue.

Research indicates that driving without adequate sleep, is as dangerous as driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol, because the lack of sleep slows the reflexes, impairs judgment and induces fatal errors resulting in loss of life.

Motor vehicle accidents are the third most frequent cause of death in the United States, behind cancer and heart disease. Arvind Subramanian, a professor at John Hopkins University, carried out research which found that 40 percent of fatal car accidents in the United States are caused by driving under the influence of alcohol or any other brain soothing drug, and 12 percent of fatal accidents are caused by drowsiness. Lack of driving experience and greater physiological sleep pressure are a couple of important factors of fatal and even near miss accidents.

The National Sleep Foundation conducted an Omnibus Sleep in America Poll and reported that 32 percent of American adults sleep 6 or fewer hours every night, while 64 percent of adults sleep, every night, less than the recommended 8 hours. 66 percent of American adults have reported a sleep problem and 1 out of every 13 cases has been diagnosed with a sleep disorder. 38 percent reported day time sleep even interfering with their jobs. The most frightening of all the figures is that 57 percent of the respondents said that they had driven while feeling drowsy during the past year, and 23 percent even said that they had fallen asleep while driving. Similar results have been reported on the basis of research studies carried out both in the United States and abroad.

The United States, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration indicated that drowsiness is the primary causal factor in 100,000 police reported accidents in last few years resulting in 76,000 injuries and 1500 deaths.

Different strategies have been recommended to keep alert and prevent drowsiness while driving, these include adjusting the windows or temperature controls in the car, listening to the radio, tape, or CD player, drinking a caffeinated beverage and stopping to exercise or stretch.

Researchers have been attempting to introduce different devices and mechanisms to reduce sleep induced accidents. Their attempts included rumble strips on the road, and monitoring the EEG of train conductors.

The current advancement in this respect is made by German researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology, where they have developed an eye tracking device that could help keep drowsy drivers alert on the road.

The eye tracker uses two cameras to record 3-D images and identifies any driver’s line of vision without calibration. It also monitors lines of visions of the drivers and issues a warning if they appear to be nodding off. The eye tracker works with infrared light, so if one starts falling asleep on dimly lit back roads, the Eyetracker is still alert and active. Peter Husar, a Fraunhofer developer, informed that after three months in car tests the device will be ready for sale in the open market. It costs about one tenth that of similar devices currently available in the market place.

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