The Role of Drowsiness and Sleep Disorders in Traffic Accident

Human beings like other creatures, have biological rhythm. The most important rhythm in human is Circadian whose every interval fluctuates between 24-25 hours and is adjusted by sun light and environmental factors everyday. Sleep and wakefulness follow of this rhythm too. Individuals who suffer from sleep disorders may feel drowsy, ready to sleep. One of the important factors which increase the possibility of danger in this status is the subconscious attacks of short-term sleep called “micro sleep”. These kinds of sleep take approximately 5-10 seconds. Individuals are not aware of their occurrence, so they may cause incidents in high risk activities, such as driving. In Iran, in 1999 driving incidents, after the heart diseases, were the main reason of death and 65 percent of the people died in traffic incidents were below 40 years of age. It is stated in the WHO report in 2002 that road accidents are among the top ten reasons of death causes and it is estimated that they will obtain higher rank in future and be one of the main challenges of human health. So, considering the high rate of driving death in Iran which has more than two thousands victims every year, and the role of drowsiness and sleep disorders in traffic accidents, it seems indispensable to pay attention to the sleep disorders and influential factors in drowsiness during high risk activities like driving. Directed researches and education may pave the ground for traffic incidents decreases.