Cost information is not provided, but the cost of a bright light is presumably reasonable. The story is specific about the number of sleep-deprived participants who crashed their simulated cars after exposure to dim light (5) compared to those whose simulated drive home was preceded by 45 minutes of bright light (0). Exposure to light in this way isn’t harmful, so we’ll rate this N/A. However, such a therapy could encourage people to skip on an intervention that would be more effective such as sleep. Or it could inure a false sense of security. The writer devotes an entire paragraph to the limits of the study, which include a small number of participants (19) and the generalizability problems that stem from experiments in lab settings. Sleepy drivers are dangerous drivers, so this study focuses on a real risk. A strong point of this story is how sources in the story are clearly identified as aligned with or independent of the study, and there were several of them. We could find no potential conflicts of interest with the researcher who was interviewed. An independent source notes that the only “proven” way to avoid the effects of drowsiness when driving is “to consistently get enough sleep.”  Other strategies for remaining alert behind the wheel are also mentioned. Light sources are readily available. One can find many studies of the role of bright light in reducing symptoms of sleepiness, but none of that context finds its way into this story. A release relevant to this story did not emerge from our search efforts. The addition of independent sources bolsters the idea that enterprise reporting undergirds this text.
Driving home from night shift may be safer with light therapy