Both alcohol and sleepiness are known to be major contributors to road traffic accidents in the UK. There has been much debate on whether the current legal breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) limit for driving (35 ?g alcohol per 100 ml breath) should be lower, as it is in several other countries in the European Union. The present limit may be satisfactory when a driver is fully alert, however the pressures of today’s society mean that an increasing number of people may be sleep deprived. The consequences of a sleepy person driving after drinking a currently legally acceptable amount of alcohol have not been fully investigated. This report describes the result of a three-year study into the interaction of sleepiness and moderate alcohol intake. The main document summarises the findings —more detailed reports of which can be found in the appendices. (Author/publisher)
Abstract