According to Tuck, microsleeps are short bursts of sleep, often experienced without the person even being aware they took place. They can be experienced by anyone who is tired, but the individuals most at risk are those who work night shifts, have a sleep disorder like insomnia or sleep apnea, or are sleep deprived.
A video seemingly of a person experiencing microsleep while behind the wheel taken two years ago but recently began recirculating on Twitter highlighted this.
Bahaya microsleep. pic.twitter.com/WpabNugQNo
— MyWatch (@My_CrimeWatch) September 7, 2019
The 45-second video was uploaded at 10pm on 7th September and it has garnered almost 13.6k retweets as of the time of writing. The video starts off with a white car moving between lanes without the use of signals. The video seems to be recorded by a driver from behind.
At around the 30-second mark, the white car hits the lorry in front and caused an accident that essentially blocked the whole highway.
When the video was uploaded, netizens were outraged because the driver who was recording the incident did not seem to honk to wake up the driver in the white car.
Source: Twitter
They said, “The fact that the driver felt that recording a potential accident is more important than preventing it makes their blood boil” and another person said, “Congratulations to the person who took the video. In 45 seconds, you could have saved a life.”
Source: Twitter
Other netizens shared their experiences as well. Twitter user Farhan said that there was once where he micro slept and someone just honked at him. He did not feel sleepy after that. Anis said the same thing as well and they urge the public to honk when they see someone driving like that so that they’ll be able to save a life and also everyone else from traffic jams.
So, guys please remember to drive carefully as to not danger yourselves! Driving recklessly is not cool and will bring more trouble to you and also other road users! And road users, if you see someone that you think might be micro-sleeping behind the wheel, then you should definitely honk them!
Also read: Watch: M’sian Motorist Knocks Ambulance Off Road Near Genting After Swerving Into Emergency Lane
