By Rebecca Shurtz
While traveling home for Thanksgiving break, students should get plenty of sleep before traveling and think twice before not buckling their seat belt.
According to statistics released this year by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 42,850 people died in traffic accidents in 2002. Of that number, almost half of those people were not wearing seat belts.
For BYU student Will Street, wearing a seat belt is more of a habit than anything else.
“I”ve been wearing my seat belt ever since I can remember,” said Street, a junior from Pasco, Wash., majoring in history. “It was something my parents instilled in me. We never left until everyone had their seat belt buckled. Now, if I”m driving and my seat belt”s off, I just feel weird. It”s like I”m walking around without any underpants on.”
AAA”s Web site offers tips for long road trips. The first is to buckle up, and the second is to take breaks while driving to avoid falling asleep at the wheel.
Last year, research completed by the Health Department at BYU proved that falling asleep at the wheel resulted in the largest fatality at BYU.
According to the study, an average of four students die each year in dozing-related accidents.
Gordon Lindsay, chair of the Health Department, said BYU students are prime targets for those who doze while driving.
They are sleep deprived after taking finals, have irregular sleeping patterns and are traveling long distances home, Lindsay said.
The study found that over 3,000 BYU students admitted to momentarily falling asleep at the wheel.
Part of the research included interviewing those involved in accidents because of falling asleep behind the wheel. Researchers discovered these students had been doing the typical things to stay awake – chewing ice, drinking high amounts of caffeine, or listening to loud music.
Lindsay has little confidence in these types of methods to staying awake. They often give students a false sense of security, he said.
“If you”re tired, you”re tired and there”s not much you can do about it,” Lindsay said. “Pull over and get a good sleep before you keep driving.”
