Sleepy driver near-misses may predict accident risks
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 15, 2026

Tactile Vibrating Toolkit and Driving Simulation Platform for Driving-Related Research
Published on: December 18, 2020
Nelson B Powell1, Kenneth B Schechtman, Robert W Riley
1Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery and Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA. npowell@ix.netcom.com
Study Objectives:
To quantify the prevalence of self-reported near-miss sleepy driving accidents and their association with self-reported actual driving accidents.
Design:
A prospective cross-sectional internet-linked survey on driving behaviors.
Setting:
Dateline NBC News website.
Results:
Results are given on 35,217 (88% of sample) individuals with a mean age of 37.2 +/- 13 years, 54.8% women, and 87% white. The risk of at least one accident increased monotonically from 23.2% if there were no near-miss sleepy accidents to 44.5% if there were > or = 4 near-miss sleepy accidents (P < 0.0001). After covariate adjustments, subjects who reported at least one near-miss sleepy accident were 1.13 (95% CI, 1.10 to 1.16) times as likely to have reported at least one actual accident as subjects reporting no near-miss sleepy accidents (P < 0.0001). The odds of reporting at least one actual accident in those reporting > or = 4 near-miss sleepy accidents as compared to those reporting no near-miss sleepy accidents was 1.87 (95% CI, 1.64 to 2.14). Furthermore, after adjustments, the summary Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) score had an independent association with having a near-miss or actual accident. An increase of 1 unit of ESS was associated with a covariate adjusted 4.4% increase of having at least one accident (P < 0.0001).
Conclusion:
A statistically significant dose-response was seen between the numbers of self-reported sleepy near-miss accidents and an actual accident. These findings suggest that sleepy near-misses may be dangerous precursors to an actual accident.
Related Concept Videos
Narcolepsy
Social Traps
Insufficient Sleep and Sleep Deprivation
Sleep deprivation is a more severe form of sleep loss...
The Anchoring-and-Adjustment Heuristic
Hypothesis Test for Test of Independence
H0: The two variables (factors)...
Sleepwalking and Sleep Talking
Factors that increase the likelihood of sleepwalking include sleep deprivation and alcohol consumption. Contrary to common beliefs, it is safe...
