Is drinking coffee when driving a good idea?
Drinking and driving is a horrendous idea, but with campaigns to help curb drinking and driving regularly in the media, the issue of tiredness behind the wheel is often overlooked.
But is drinking coffee to stay alert and awake actually a good thing when behind the wheel?
Firstly let’s bust the myth that coffee is the ultimate stimulant for attentiveness when driving.
As an aide for alertness coffee is actually scientifically proven to boost our reaction time and decrease the drowsiness that we all tend to suffer when faced with a lack of sleep.
An Australian research project into the effects of caffeine — specifically coffee — on the rate of accidents and collisions found that those that fared better tended to have drunk a caffeine-based drink.
The research project assessed over a thousand long distance commercial drivers in Western Australia and New South Wales for this investigation, including 517 drivers who had not had an accident over the past twelve months and 530 drivers who had been involved in accidents.
The study focused on drivers of vehicles weighing over 12 tonnes and crashes that occurred between 2008 and 2011.
The result?
It seems that once other issues have been taken into account (such as breaks, sleep patterns and age), those who had used caffeine to help them stay alert fared better than those who did not.
What was the difference?
The statistics proved quite significant: the caffeine-drinkers were found to be 63% less likely to have an accident.
Of course, it’s worth pointing out that drivers should not rely solely on caffeine to stay awake to be safe on the road.
And another factor to consider is that those reporting a crash may have been generally less experienced or capable drivers in the first place.
Although we’re not implying that drinking coffee is a substitute for proper rest, and stress the importance of taking regular breaks or simply avoiding driving whilst tired, this is good news for coffee-drinking drivers out there.
For more information on whether caffeine can really cut crash risks, please visit the NHS website to learn more about this study.