Holiday Drowsy Driving Doubles Risk of Death... "Take a Break If You Feel Sleepy"

On the second day of the Chuseok holiday, the 19th, vehicles are moving slowly toward Busan on the Gyeongbu Expressway near Jamwon IC in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Dong-hoon] As the Chuseok holiday season officially begins, the volume of travel is increasing. Awareness of drowsy and drunk driving on highways is required.

According to the Korea Transportation Safety Authority on the 20th, the average daily number of traffic accidents and casualties two days before the main Chuseok homecoming rush were 785 cases and 1,165 people, respectively. This is 1.5 times and 1.3 times higher than the average daily traffic accidents (511 cases) and casualties (877 people) during the entire Chuseok period.

During the holiday, long-distance travel and traffic congestion cause driver fatigue, making drowsy driving more likely. If an accident occurs due to drowsy driving, the driver and passengers receive the impact in an unprotected state, which is more fatal to their safety. In fact, the fatality rate of traffic accidents caused by drowsy driving is 6.2 deaths per 100 cases, more than twice the overall traffic accident fatality rate.

Also, failure to fulfill safety obligations, crossing the center line, running red lights, and not maintaining a safe distance mainly occur due to drowsy driving. The proportion of center line crossing accidents among drowsy driving accidents is three times higher than that of center line crossing accidents among all traffic accidents.

The most important way to prevent drowsy driving is managing the driver’s condition. Driving while fatigued makes it difficult to avoid drowsy driving on holiday highways where stop-and-go traffic is repeated countless times. To maintain optimal condition, sufficient sleep and proper nutrition must come first, and warming up the body with appropriate exercise or stretching beforehand also helps. Changing drivers is also a good method.