Loading...
In 2008, unintentional pedestrian injuries accounted for more than 8000 adolescent injuries and 105 deaths. Sleep deprivation can affect cognitive factors associated with pedestrian safety. Investigators used a virtual reality pedestrian crossing scenario to compare 55 adolescents (age, 14–15 years; 58% female) while they were well-rested or sleep-deprived. Adolescents served as their own controls and were randomly assigned to sleep-deprived (<4 hours sleep) or well-rested (8.5 hours) test conditions, followed by testing under the opposite condition 2 weeks later. Experiments were conducted about 70 minutes after awakening. Virtual vehicles moved at 30 mph and appeared at an average density of 12 per minute.
Compared with when they were well…