Sleep-deprived driving (commonly known as tired driving, drowsy driving or fatigued driving) is the operation of a motor vehicle while being cognitively impaired by a lack of sleep (Wikipedia.org).
In Gulf State Park in Gulf Shores, Alabama at 9:00 in the morning on May 27, 2015, two bicyclist John Richard Vos (73 years old) and his wife, Augusta Forbes Vos (50 years old) (visiting from Birmingham and staying at the state park campground), decided to take a ride down State Road 2. Unfortunately, at that same time, a 21 year old from Pensacola was on his way home from working his all night second job. The driver told the police that he simply nodded off and apparently struck both of the bicyclist from behind. Mr. Vos was airlifted to the hospital and Mrs. Vos was taken by ambulance. Mr. Vos succumbed to his injuries and died the next day.
There are two tragedies here: Mr. and Mrs. Vos came to the Gulf State Park to camp, bike and enjoy their retirement years. On the other hand, this 21 year old had been working all night (his second job) probably trying to achievement goals for retirement years.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration conservatively estimates that 100,000 police-reported crashes are a direct result of Drowsy Driving each year. Drowsy Driving is a rising problem that has probably not been properly recorded because of variables such as (1) there is no test to determine sleepiness; (2) there is little or no police training in identifying drowsiness as a crash factor; (3) self-reporting is unreliable (people probably do not want to admit they were too drowsy driving).
Please just be aware of your surroundings, whether you are the person on the bicycle or the person behind the wheel of the vehicle.
