Have you ever nodded off at the wheel and woken up suddenly? Many of us have and we should all consider buying a driver alarm. Frightening statistics inform us how many people nod off whilst driving and tell us what damage can be caused. This may be a phenomenon experienced mostly by long-distance truck drivers, but we may all be guilty.

Almost 70% of the people in the United States drive cars and it is estimated that up to 100 million of those have driven when fatigued. Still more frightening is the fact that 30 million or so are said to actually fall asleep at the wheel. This may not always result in an accident but is frightening nonetheless — you should get a driver alarm.

Experts recommended that we get a minimum of eight hours sleep per night, but few do due to their schedules. You may work a very active lifestyle or suffer through long shifts, so don’t be surprised if you nod off at the wheel when you are driving home at the end of that hectic day.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, more than $12 billion of monetary losses are suffered in the United States alone following the more than 100,000 sleep related accidents. It would be nice to see the 1500 deaths and huge number of injuries decrease as a result of everyone carrying a simple driver alarm.

The driver alarm is a simple item that you place over your ear. If your head sags below a certain level, an alarm will be sounded right next to your ear. The item is very simple in principle and, similar to a mercury switch, if you doze off the movement causes a switch to trip and a loud alarm will surely wake you.

You should pull off the road if you are sleepy. Taking a short nap will certainly help and it is no good to just open a window to get more fresh air. Some people should be required to carry a driver alarm, including those who have very hectic schedules and those who work in a driving occupation.

The economic costs of falling asleep whilst driving can often be outweighed by the personal cost. In criminal cases, jail sentences have been handed down for those who are found to cause an accident due to falling asleep. Also, when civil lawsuits are filed is not uncommon for multimillion dollar awards to be doled out. In these situations it seems only sensible to purchase the driver alarm should you think that you are vulnerable.

Although the driver alarm will certainly keep the drowsy driver from falling asleep, don’t rely on it if you know you are going to be driving a long-distance when already tired. In this case, make sure that you have plenty of rest first.