There are all sorts of situations in which how tired one is matters to a great degree. One of the big ones is when a person is at the wheel of a motor vehicle. Driving while tired can lead to major collisions.
Many things can impact how tired a person is likely to be. One of these is what their everyday schedule is like. It is important for people to be aware of how their particular everyday schedule could influence their tiredness, and to take this into account when making decisions related to driving, such as decisions regarding when to drive.
For drivers of different age groups, different things can play a big role what kind of regular schedule they have. For example, for young drivers still in high school, one thing that has huge schedule-related implications for them is their school’s start time.
So, what time their school starts could impact a teen’s tiredness, which could in turn affect how high of a risk they have for drowsy driving. This is among the reasons why school start times in a state can be such a significant issue.
How early are high school start times here in Michigan? Despite the trend that has been occurring in some parts of the country towards moving to later high school start times, start times still lean more towards the early side in Michigan. Starting at or before 8 a.m. is pretty common among high schools in the state.
According to federal data covering 2011-2012, 7:54 a.m. was the average start time for middle and high schools in Michigan. Over 30 states had later average start times. So, it appears that middle/high school start times trend earlier in Michigan than they do in many other states.
One wonders why Michigan has stayed on the early side when it comes to middle/high school start times and what impacts this has had on the state’s teens, including their driving habits.
Do you think high school start times should be moved back in Michigan? Do you think such a move would have a big positive effect on traffic safety in the state?
Source: mlive, “Asleep at the desk: How school begins for many Michigan teens,” Ted Roelofs, May 31, 2016