Sleep-Impaired Driving Awareness Canada

Overview

Sleep-Impaired Driving Awareness Canada (SIDAC) – Sleep: There Is No Substitute forms part of Canada’s Sleep Calendar, a coordinated program of national public education presented by The Sleep Society to improve sleep health awareness across Canada.

Sleep-impaired driving remains an under-recognized risk on Canadian roads. Importantly, a driver does not have to fall asleep at the wheel to become unsafe. Insufficient sleep, prolonged wakefulness, circadian disruption and untreated sleep disorders can reduce alertness, slow reaction time and impair concentration, judgement and decision-making before a driver fully recognizes the danger.

Sleep-Impaired Driving Awareness Canada aims to broaden the conversation beyond simply “feeling tired.” By encouraging Canadians to recognize sleep impairment as an important road-safety issue in its own right, the initiative reinforces a simple message: sleep is a biological necessity. There is no substitute. When we drive, sufficient sleep is not optional.

Why it matters

Driving is a complex activity requiring sustained attention, rapid reactions, sound judgement and continuous decision-making. Because sleep is a biological necessity, inadequate sleep can impair the very functions upon which safe driving depends. Sleep loss and fatigue can compromise alertness, reaction time, concentration and judgement, while microsleeps — brief, involuntary episodes of sleep — can occur when a sleepy person is attempting to remain awake.

One of the greatest challenges is that people may underestimate their own impairment. A driver may readily recognize alcohol or drug impairment, yet the effects of inadequate sleep can be less obvious. When insufficient sleep becomes habitual, feeling sleepy or less alert may begin to feel normal. A person may therefore begin a journey after inadequate sleep, or continue driving, without fully recognizing that alertness and performance are progressively deteriorating.

Sleep impairment can also affect many of the people we routinely expect to cope with unusual or demanding hours. Shift workers, commercial drivers, healthcare professionals, students, parents and others experiencing insufficient or poor-quality sleep may all be at risk. Sleep disorders, including obstructive sleep apnea and narcolepsy, may also increase driving risk when inadequately recognized or treated.

Sleep is a biological necessity. There is no substitute.

Background

Sleep-Impaired Driving Awareness Canada (SIDAC) is observed throughout September as part of Canada’s Sleep Calendar and promotes greater recognition of sleep impairment as an important and preventable road-safety issue.

The dangers of alcohol-impaired, drug-impaired and distracted driving are now widely recognized. Sleep impairment has received considerably less public attention, despite its potential to affect alertness, concentration, reaction time, judgement and decision-making behind the wheel.

The term “drowsy driving” is widely understood, but the problem extends beyond feeling drowsy or actually falling asleep at the wheel. Inadequate sleep, prolonged wakefulness, circadian disruption, shift work and untreated sleep disorders can impair driving ability before a driver fully recognizes the seriousness of their impairment.

Through SIDAC, The Sleep Society and SleepSafeCanada are working to bring together public education, professional expertise, research, road-safety organizations and existing drowsy-driving and fatigue initiatives across Canada.

Sleep impairment affects our driving profoundly

Sleep impairment can also interact with other forms of driving impairment in ways we may not immediately recognize. The effects of inadequate sleep and alcohol, for example, can be additive, producing greater impairment when combined than either factor alone. Similar concerns may arise with medications or other substances that themselves impair alertness or performance.

Distracted driving usually brings to mind a driver reaching for a cellphone, yet distraction is not always deliberate. Sleepiness and reduced vigilance can cause attention to wander or disengage from the driving task. Sometimes we see drivers who appear not to understand road position – while this is sometimes true, sleep impairment can look like alcohol impairment.

We have all seen the apparently detached driver who fails to move when a traffic light turns green; more seriously, a sleep-impaired driver may fail to notice a red light, another vehicle entering an intersection, a pedestrian or a change in traffic speed. Misjudging speed, distance or developing hazards may have many causes, but impaired attention and judgement resulting from inadequate sleep should be among those considered.

Sleep impairment may also influence behaviour behind the wheel. Sleep loss can adversely affect emotional regulation, increasing irritability and reducing our ability to control negative emotional responses. Anger, frustration, impatience and poor judgement do not necessarily mean that a driver is sleep impaired, but ask a simple question: when are we more likely to react badly to another road user- after adequate, restorative sleep or when we are sleep deprived?

This is why sleep-impaired driving extends much further than simply falling asleep at the wheel. It can affect attention, judgement, reaction, decision-making and behaviour, and it may compound other forms of impairment. And its consequences are not confined to the sleep-impaired driver. We share the road with that driver. They may be behind us, approaching an intersection or travelling towards us in the oncoming lane, of course it may be that other drivers share the road with us.

Current activities

The Sleep Society and SleepSafeCanada are currently working to:

• Promote greater public recognition of sleep-impaired driving as an important and preventable road-safety issue.
• Increase understanding that driving ability may be impaired before a person falls asleep at the wheel, and sometimes before they fully recognize how impaired they have become.
• Educate drivers about the effects of inadequate sleep quality, quantity and continuity, prolonged wakefulness, circadian disruption, shift work and untreated sleep disorders on driving performance.
• Increase awareness that sleep impairment can affect attention, reaction time, judgement, decision-making and behaviour behind the wheel, and may compound other forms of driving impairment.
• Encourage drivers to recognize signs of increasing sleepiness or reduced alertness, while understanding that they may not always accurately recognize the extent of their own sleep impairment.
• Develop practical, evidence-informed educational resources for the public, healthcare professionals, employers, commercial drivers, transportation organizations and road-safety organizations.
• Support and collaborate with existing drowsy-driving, fatigue and road-safety initiatives while promoting greater recognition of the broader issue of sleep-impaired driving.
• Encourage collaboration with governments, automobile insurers, transportation authorities, law enforcement, healthcare organizations, employers and road-safety organizations.
• Advocate for greater recognition of sleep impairment within road-safety education, prevention and public policy across Canada.
• Build partnerships and national support for Sleep-Impaired Driving Awareness Canada and the prevention of sleep-related road injury.

Resources

Access articles, fact sheets, videos, posters and downloadable resources relating to drowsy driving, sleep impairment, fatigue, sleep disorders and road safety.

Media centre

Help raise awareness of the initiative by sharing information and encouraging families, workplaces, professional drivers and communities to recognize that safe driving begins before the journey, with sufficient, good-quality sleep and an understanding of the dangers of sleep impairment.

Access news, media releases, campaign updates and other information relating specifically to driving while sleep impaired, “Sleep-Impaired Driving”, while also acknowledging the commonly used concept of “Drowsy Driving”.

SleepSafeCanada promotes public awareness of the importance of healthy sleep through Canada’s Sleep Calendar, national education campaigns, community engagement and public health initiatives that encourage healthier, safer and more productive lives.