You consider yourself a responsible person. You would never dream of taking the wheel of your car after drinking, let alone using drugs. Yet you might think it is OK to drive when tired.
You are not alone. Almost everyone drives while tired at some point, but the roads would be safer if no one ever did. Here is why:
Driving when fatigued is like driving when drunk
Driving with a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.08% could get you arrested. That is the standard legal limit upon which the police will automatically issue a DUI. The National Safety Council (NSC) reports that not sleeping for 20 hours will have the same effect on your driving ability as a 0.08% BAC.
You might never have driven after not sleeping for 20 hours, but that does not mean you are safe to drive when you have not slept for, say, 10 hours or only slept four hours the whole night.
Commercial drivers or young drivers are subject to a much lower BAC limit than 0.08%. So it stands to reason that if lower alcohol limits are considered a danger, lower levels of fatigue should also be considered a danger. Think about how you are a little slower to react or a little clumsier when tired than when feeling fresh and alert. That could be fatal if driving.
It only takes one tired driver to cause a crash and injure you. While you might not feel it was their fault as you would if they were drunk or drugged, they still made a poor choice to drive when tired. Getting legal help to hold them responsible will be crucial.