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Every year, falling asleep while driving is responsible for at least 100,000 automobile crashes, 40,000 injuries, and 1550 fatalities. These crashes happen between the hours of midnight and 6am, involve a single vehicle and a sober driver traveling alone, with the car leaving the roadway without any attempt to avoid the crash. These figures underestimate the true level of involvement of drowsiness because they do not include crashes involving daytime hours, multiple vehicles, alcohol, passengers, or evasive maneuvers.

NHTSA's programs to combat drowsy driving employs both educational and technological solutions. Education programs are directed toward specific subpopulations as well as the general driving public. Current educational efforts to combat drowsy driving are directed at shift workers and college students, using social marketing approaches to determine appropriate messages and delivery mechanisms. Programs increase awareness of the need for sleep and provide information on how to get better quality sleep, how to recognize when a driver is fighting sleep, and what to do when the driver is too sleepy to drive.

"Volume I: Findings--National Survey of Distracted and Drowsy Driving Attitudes and Behavior -- 2002". Also available in .pdf (Cover)
This report presents the findings from a national survey conducted by the Gallup Organization for NHTSA during February through April of 2002.  Topics covered in this report include general driving characteristics and road use, distracted driving behaviors including wireless phone use, and characteristics of drowsy driving behavior.

“Volume II: Findings— (Cover) National Survey of Speeding and Unsafe Driving Attitudes and Behavior: 2002”. available in pdf. (posted 11-18-03)
This report presents findings from a national survey conducted by the Gallup Organization for NHTSA during February through April of 2002 on American drivers' reported behaviors and attitudes surrounding speeding, and aggressive driving and and other unsafe driving behaviors.

Preventing Drowsy Driving Among Shift Workers Program (posted 11-00)
In collaboration with the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research (NCSDR), NHTSA has developed this program to increase shift workers' awareness of the dangers of drowsy driving, help them to improve the quality of their sleep and reduce sleepiness, and - ultimately - reduce the incidence of drowsy driving.

The NHTSA & NCSDR Program to Combat Drowsy Driving
In 1996, NHTSA & NCSDR embarked on a congressionally mandated effort to develop educational countermeasures to the effects of fatigue, sleep disorders, and inattention on highway safety. This publication is their report to Congress.

Drowsy driving and Automobile Crashes
Drowsy driving is a serious problem that leads to thousands of automobile crashes each year. This report, sponsored by the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research (NCSDR) of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), is designed to provide direction to an NCSDR/NHTSA educational campaign to combat drowsy driving. The report presents the results of a literature review and opinions of the Expert Panel on Driver Fatigue and Sleepiness regarding key issues involved in the problem.