Drivers fail to recognise dehydration symptoms

14 October 2015

Story from FleetNews.

With driver errors accountable for 68% of all vehicle crashes in the UK, drivers are being urged to take caution and ensure they are adequately hydrated before every journey.

Over half of the 1,000 drivers (58%) surveyed by Leasing Options claimed to be aware of the risks of dehydrated driving, but seem to be doing little to prevent it.

Health authorities recommend drinking around two litres of water a day, but it was found that 37% of those surveyed are only drinking one litre of water a day, with 18% drinking less than one litre a day.

Overall, 84% of drivers think drink-driving is more dangerous than dehydrated driving, even though a recent study conducted by Loughborough University revealed that mild dehydration is equivalent to being over the drink-drive limit in terms of driver errors.

London and Birmingham came out top for awareness of dehydrated driving, with 62% of London drivers and 67% of drivers in Birmingham stating they are aware of the risks involved.

The results also suggested that men are more aware of the risks involved than women, with 62% of men admitting to be aware in comparison to 55% of women.

Despite knowing the risks, 43% of drivers still admit to not having a bottle of water with them on car journeys.

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