What It'd Really Take To Curb Drowsy Driving

In the wake of the news that sleep deprivation may have possibly played a role in Sunday's deadly train derailment in New York, attention has turned to the topic of drowsy driving. While some have called for the transportation industry to continue to take measures to prevent its drivers from hitting the roads (or the sky or the rails) while sleep deprived, the problem of drowsy driving is also about what happens when you're not on the clock.

"People have to recognize that this is a shared responsibility. So 'industry' can do so much in terms of designing appropriate work schedules and making sure that every person working has enough time off each day," Dr. Charles Czeisler, M.D., Ph.D., chief of the Division of Sleep Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital and director of the division of sleep medicine at Harvard Medical School, told HuffPost Live's Nancy Redd on Tuesday. "On the other hand, the individual, also, the worker, has a responsibility to make sure that when they show up for work, that they're fit for doing the job by having set enough time for sleep and not trying to burn the candle at both ends."

Another "critical element" in curbing drowsy driving, according to Czeisler, is screening workers for sleep disorders, including sleep apnea.

For more on their discussion, watch the video clip above, and find the full HuffPost Live conversation HERE.