Ahead of next week’s Drowsy Driving Prevention Week (Nov. 1-7), the National Sleep Foundation (NSF) released its 2026 Drowsy Driving Report, showing that an estimated 145 million U.S. adult drivers (61%) have driven impaired by sleepiness at least once, and nearly 35 million do so at least monthly. Despite the scale of the problem, about 40% of adult drivers don’t recognize the most basic warning signs of drowsy driving.

Data from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety show drowsy driving is responsible for one out of every five deadly motor vehicle crashes.

New research findings suggest millions support requiring driver-alertness technology in new vehicles and adding sleep education to driver licensing, and most favor legal consequences when drowsy driving causes serious harm.

Other key findings from the report include:

• Many drivers miss the warning signs. About 40% of adult drivers don’t recognize the basic warning signs of drowsy driving, like frequent blinking, yawning, head-nodding, and drifting from the lane.
• Safety technology: room for growth and trust. Almost 6 in 10 adults (58%) are familiar with driver-alertness monitoring, and 3 in 10 (31%) have used it. 62% worry that data from alertness-monitoring systems could be misused.
• Americans tie policy to consequences. 62% of adults favor making drowsy driving illegal when it results in a serious injury or fatal crash, and 39% say drowsy driving should be illegal outright.
• Millions back technology and education. An estimated 91 million+ U.S. adults support requiring driver-alertness technology in all new vehicles, and an estimated 91 million+ support requiring sleep and drowsy driving education as part of licensing.

“Every signal in this year’s report points the same way: drowsy driving is common, it’s under-recognized, and the public is ready for solutions,” said Joseph Dzierzewski, PhD, senior vice president of Research and Scientific Affairs at National Sleep Foundation. “When four in 10 drivers can’t identify even the most basic of warning signs, too many people don’t realize they’re impaired and shouldn’t be behind the wheel.”