Life-threatening injuries to players Vladimir Konstantinov and Slava Fetisov, and team masseur, Sergi Mnatsakanov in the Michigan automobile crash typifies the horrors that take place everyday on our highways and rural interstates in the United States. Our hearts go out to these men, their families and other victims of similar crashes.
Drowsiness also plays a role in crashes attributed to other causes.
Clinical studies show that sleep deprivation and fatigue make such attention lapses more likely to occur. Based on these surveys and studies, many researchers believe that federal statistics significantly under-report the problem of driver fatigue. Drowsy driving is receiving increased attention from the media, the public, traffic safety officials, and Congress. Furthermore, there are deadly interactions between fatigue and alcohol, and with medications. For example, the consumption of one beer or ounce of alcohol, after only four hours of sleep, has the potential impact of several alcoholic drinks, resulting in severe impairment.