Drowsiness and fatigue can sometimes steer weary drivers off the road.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, driver fatigue causes at least 100,000 police-reported crashes every year.
Sleep deprivation hinders an individual's ability to formulate new ways of solving problems, said Stephen Tingley, a University Health Services physician in urgent care.
The ability to develop an imaginative response while driving decreases when the driver has not gotten enough sleep, he said.
"Driving is a monotonous activity ... that can easily put you to sleep before you even realize it," said Alexandros Vgontzas, a psychiatry professor at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.
Passive activities like driving cause drowsiness much sooner than an active activity would, he said.
On average, college students should get eight or more hours of sleep for every 24-hour period, Vgontzas said. People require more sleep when they are younger than when they grow older, he said.
Not getting this amount of sleep can affect alertness, a person's performance during the day and how that person handles daily responsibilities, Vgontzas said.
According to the National Sleep Foundation, individuals between age 18 and 29 are the most likely group to drive when drowsy.
Figures were not available for local drowsy driving-related accidents.
An insufficient amount of sleep can cause individuals to nod off while driving. Drivers who find that they cannot remember the past mile may be experiencing fleeting episodes of sleep, Tingley said.
