The National Sleep Foundation has launched a public awareness campaign to educate drivers about how lack of sleep effects road safety. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety released a new study which demonstrates that driving while drowsy is a bigger problem than previously thought. The study showed that drowsy driving results in one in six deadly crashes, one in eight that result in hospitalization, and one in fourteen in which a vehicle had to be towed. This study shows that the problem is more severe than shown in previous estimates.

The National Sleep Foundation has a website devoted to the topic at www.drowsydriving.org. The group points out that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that drowsy driving results in 1,550 deaths, 71,000 injuries and more than 100,000 accidents each year. The study also shows that younger drivers age 16-24 were almost two times as likely to be involved in a drowsy driving crash as older drivers. Over half of the drowsy driving crashes involved a driver drifting into other lanes or even off the road.

The website has lots of useful information for how to prevent drowsy driving and a public service announcement about drowsy driving on You Tube.