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Friday morning, December 19, 2014, began as any other day. It had rained during the night and carried over into waking hours. Our daughter, Brianna Cassidy, left the house for work around 7:30 a.m. after her mother fixed her breakfast and saw her off.
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The engineer reported feeling “dazed and “almost like mesmorized” right before his train hit a sharp curve and careened off the tracks in December. Months later, an NTSB investigation suggests sleep disorders and poor quality sleep played a large role in the deadly New York commuter train accident that killed four people and injured more than 70.

In the aftermath of the derailment, the engineer visited a board certified sleep physician, who diagnosed him with severe sleep apnea. When the disorder is untreated, it can cause fatigue, slow reaction times, reduced alertness and impaired thinking.

At 5-foot-10 and 261 lbs (a severely obese), the conductor’s sleep disorder should have been detected long before he went to work that morning. If the disorder had been diagnosed and treated sooner, it’s possible that the deadly accident could have been prevented.

More than 100,000 accidents every year involve a drowsy or impaired driver. A vast majority of these accidents occur every day on our roadways and don’t receive as much attention as the New York train derailment. However, many are just as deadly and just as preventable.
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Was traffic noticeably slower on your morning commute? If so, blame daylight saving time. The “spring forward” is believed to cause a temporary spike in traffic incidents. A 1998 Canadian study found that auto accidents may increase as much as 17 percent immediately following the time change.

The authors of the Canadian study argue drowsy driving – rather than the other two factors – is why the frequency of accidents escalates after the time change. The study found the only significant increase in accidents occurred during the afternoon commute. That finding appears to rule out an early sunrise or forgetfulness as the reason for an increase in accidents.
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The disturbing trend of people driving drowsy continues, according to a new report by The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The report is based on the largest survey ever to examine the topic of drowsy driving. The CDC found that 4.2 percent of 147,076 respondents reported having fallen asleep while driving at least one time during the previous 30 days. Men were more likely to report drowsy driving than women. Statistical analysis found that sleeping for six hours or less per night was related independently to drowsy driving. Self-reported snoring also was an independent risk factor.
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The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) offers a free online presentation describing the signs, causes and effects of driver fatigue and some strategies to manage it. SAFE-D: Sleep, Alertness and Fatigue Education for Drivers is available on Vimeo.
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A group of sleep researchers at Washington State University say air disaster could have been easily prevented. The researchers estimate the controller was only operating at 71 percent effectiveness because he was fatigued and fighting his circadian rhythms.
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