Health

Drowsy driving by teens poses public safety risk, National Sleep Foundation study says

By Mallika Marshall, MD

Updated on: June 5, 2024 / 5:53 PM EDT / CBS Boston

Study finds that drowsy driving by teens poses public safety risk

BOSTON - A new study finds that drowsy driving by teens poses a serious and common public safety risk.

Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death in U.S. adolescents and the National Sleep Foundation found that approximately one in six teen drivers reported having driven while drowsy, amounting to approximately 1.7 million drowsy teen drivers on U.S. roadways.

When asked, most teens blamed their inadequate sleep on work or school schedules and those with jobs were more than twice as likely to have driven while drowsy compared to those without. When asked about the likelihood of drunk, drugged, distracted, or drowsy driving leading to death or serious injury, drowsy driving was seen as posing the lowest risk.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends that states mandate drowsy driving education as a part of driver's education programs.

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Teenagers

Mallika Marshall, MD

Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School.

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