Sleep deprivation: health consequences and societal impact.

The single most pervasive area wherein the issue of sleep deprivation and the public weal intersect is that of transportation. The romantic image of old Dobbins safely guiding a sleepily bemused or sodden buggy rider homeward may or may not bear scrutiny. For certain, however, the twentieth-century emergence of multi–horse-powered juggernauts, directionless save for a human consciousness at the helm, finds us at a crossroads where alertness is requisite. As the speed, power, and numbers of vehicles increase, so too grows the need for a steady hand and eye attending to the task of safely navigating the roadways. Many investigators have demonstrated the hazards of sleepy steering, typically characterizing the sleepy noncommercial auto driver as primarily young adult, usually male, and driving late at night or early in the morning, unable to ward off the spell of Morpheus, though at life’s peril. Numerous assessments in the United States and abroad implicate sleep deprivation as a significant risk factor for crashes [1–7]. For example, Pack and colleagues [3] analyzed 1990–1992 data from the University of North Carolina’s