Alertness Solutions, a Cupertino, Calif., consulting firm that specializes in alertness management, has introduced Awake at the Wheel, a 32-page guide and 36-minute audio CD to help drivers avoid drowsy driving.

Falling asleep at the wheel persists as a causes of many serious accidents. According to an annual National Sleep Foundation poll, nearly one in five American drivers -- or roughly 33 million people -- say they've fallen asleep at the wheel in the past year. Furthermore, a consensus of safety experts has determined that drowsy driving causes more accidents than alcohol or drug use.
A survey of health care workers found that 39% reported falling asleep while driving to and from work in the past year and 39% had a near miss or accident due to driving tired. In a similar survey of corporate fleet drivers for a Fortune 100 company, Alertness Solutions learned that more than 20% of the company's drivers nodded off at the wheel in the past year and that 14% had an accident or near-miss.
"Drowsy driving is a significant and largely unappreciated cause of motor vehicle crashes," said Susan Coughlin, former vice chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board.
Officially, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that fatigue annually causes 100,000 police-reported crashes, 71,000 injuries, and 1,500 crash fatalities, costing the United States about $12.5 billion.
An international group of scientists has determined that fatigue may be responsible for as many as 20% of crashes worldwide, or a staggering 1.2 million annually in the U.S. And the National Transportation Safety Board has identified fatigue as a contributing factor in at least 30% of heavy truck crashes in the United States.
"People don't realize how common fall-asleep crashes are, that they often have tragic consequences, and that a variety of people are affected," said Dr. Mark Rosekind, the president and chief scientist of Alertness Solutions and former director of the Fatigue Countermeasures Program at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif. Before his work at NASA, Rosekind, a Ph.D., directed the Center for Human Sleep Research at the Stanford University Sleep Disorders Center.
Especially at risk for fall-asleep crashes are commercial drivers, who spend long hours on the road, especially at night.
Alertness Solutions offers Awake at the Wheel, with an Alertness Guide and audio CD that combine a user-friendly format and easy-to-understand scientific information to prod behavioral changes that can reduce fall-asleep crashes.
The guide and audio CD include the following:
-- Information about what makes you sleepy and how this affects your ability to drive safely
-- Ways to accurately evaluate your alertness
-- Strategies to help you stay alert
-- A planning tool that allows you to use strategies on your next trip
Awake at the Wheel also provides tools for various at-risk groups and can help all drivers be alert behind the wheel and take action
to avoid the dangers of drowsy driving.
For more information and pricing, visit www.awakeatthewheel.com. In addition, web site browsers can download an audio clip of the CD and learn more about the drowsy driving problem.