Falling asleep at the wheel: about 27% of drivers admitted that they “fell” at the wheel at least once in the past year. This is according to a survey conducted by the association “Or Yerok”, through the research institute Magar Mehod.
The survey was designed to examine the proportion of drivers who drove when they were tired during the past year and actually “peeked” at the steering wheel (when their eyes were closed for a moment and immediately opened them) and the proportion of people from the general public who were traveling in a car with a driver and noticed that he was “pecking” the steering wheel. In a similar survey that took place in 2019, 39% of drivers admitted that they “peeked” while driving at least once in the past year.
In “Green Or” we noted that, compared to other years in the last decade, it can be seen that the proportion of drivers who admitted that they “drove” in driving has increased greatly in the last five years (2017-2022) and it is estimated at about 30%. From the segmentation of the survey data, it appears that men (32%) admitted that they “got hit” while driving in the past year more than women (21%). The age group 18-34 was the group in which the rate of reporting “peck” was the highest (30%). The survey also shows that 31% of the residents in the Arab society admitted that they “peeked” while driving at least once in the last year – higher than the average for the entire sample. 31% of the residents in the Arab society reported that they drove at least once in the last year with a driver who “knocked” on the steering wheel – lower than the average in the entire sample.
The survey also shows that 37% admitted that they had traveled with a driver who “peckered” while driving during the past year. However, this is a decrease compared to a similar survey conducted in 2019, when 49% of passengers admitted that they had traveled with a driver who “picked” while driving at least once in the past year.
“Fatigue while driving causes a decrease in driving abilities and hence also the ability to react in time to what is happening on the road, to notice pedestrians, electric vehicle riders, traffic lights and traffic signs in time. Tired and fatigued drivers are at a higher risk of being involved in traffic accidents,” warned the CEO of “Or Yerok”, Attorney Yaniv Ya’akov – “Young people who often drive at night and professional drivers who drive many hours during the day, are more exposed to driving while tired and thus also to a high involvement in traffic accidents.”
Adv. Ya’akov believes that the transition to the use of a digital technograph in heavy vehicles should be promoted, instead of the old analog one, which exists in Israel. “The use of a digital technograph, which is customary in most advanced countries, will prevent driving beyond the hours allowed by law in trucks with a tachograph and fatal road accidents at a higher rate than a vehicle accident composition”.