Being overextended at trying to "do it all" and "have it all," often means operating on less than the optimal amount of sleep. It's a common complaint in the modern world, with full-time work, domestic duties, and a few minutes of exercise, there just aren't enough hours in the day. And to make matters worse, more productive hours are being “robbed” from us because of the congestion on many of our nation’s roadways. Employees are sitting in traffic and experiencing significant travel delays as they commute to work or drive for work.

Sleep is a critical factor in highway safety. As Americans become more sleep-deprived, the number of crashes on our roadways involving drowsy drivers is increasing. Fatigue contributes to more than 100,000 crashes each year. The result is often fatal for sleeping drivers and those in the vehicle they hit.

Nearly three-quarters of adults in America (71%) drive a car to and from work, and many are fatigued drivers, according to the National Sleep Foundation’s 2002 Sleep in America poll. More than one-fourth of survey respondents said they have driven drowsy to or from work at least a few days a month, 12% drove drowsy a few days a week and 4% said they drove drowsy every day or almost every day.

Sleep deprivation and fatigue make lapses of attention more likely to occur and may play a role in behavior that can lead to crashes attributed to other causes. Fatigue slows your reaction time, decreases awareness, impairs judgment (just as alcohol or drugs) and can lead to falling asleep at the wheel. Taking over-the-counter or prescription medications or drinking alcohol, on top of being fatigued, will seriously compound an already dangerous situation.

Employers can incorporate fatigue management into safety programs and implement a proactive training program to educate all employees about the risks of driver fatigue and how to avoid it. Through instruction, they learn the risks of driving when tired, how to prevent driver fatigue, and what actions to take if they experience fatigue while driving. NETS recently developed Asleep at the Wheel? A Wake-Up Call for Drowsy Drivers, a CD-Rom-based program with awareness materials and information to help all employees to be more alert behind the wheel whether they drive for work or to and from work.