Drowsy Driving Injuries Jump 30% in Colorado

Injuries caused by a drowsy driver increased 30% in 2018 to 900 people compared to 677 in the prior year, reports CBS Denver.

While fatalities due to drowsy driving decreased from 21 in 2017 to15 in 2018, on average fatigued drivers take the lives of 16 people each year in Colorado.

The data comes from the Colorado Department of Transportation's Safety Communications Director as reported by CBS Denver.

Drowsy driving remains a serious problem on the nation's roadways.

In a 2018 survey conducted by AAA, 29% of drivers admitted they were so tired that they had a hard time keeping their eyes open while on the road. As part of that study, AAA researchers studied videos from cameras mounted in cars of 3,500 drivers looking for signs of fatigue. When researchers analyzed more than 700 crashes caught on tape, they found signs of drowsy driving in roughly 10%.

A driver who goes more than 20 hours without sleep is the same as driving with a blood alcohol concentration of .08 — essentially, it is like driving drunk, according to the National Safety Council.