“Happy Days”Star Anson Williams Prepares For National Driver Awareness Week In November

As we approach National Drowsy Drivers Awareness week in November, we are hoping that you might have interest in an interview opportunity with Anson Williams (Potsie Weber / Happy Days)  on the subject, in which he has been acknowledged as an expert from LAPD, CA Senate and Congress.

For many, the first thought is … Drowsy Driving?  It doesn’t sound too serious, does it?  FALSE – It has serious consequences and claims many lives and injures to thousands of Americans each year.  In fact, it can be just as dangerous as, and happens more often than, drunk driving, according to recent statistics. (http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=31209526 https://sleepfoundation.org/events-activities/drowsy-driving-prevention-week) Since local police departments often report accidents caused by Drowsy Driving as “Driver lost control of vehicle,” the numbers are even higher.

In the United States, 250,000 drivers fall asleep at the wheel every day, according to the Division of Sleep Medicine at (Harvard Medical School) and in a national poll by the National Sleep Foundation, 54% of adult drivers said they had driven while drowsy during the past year with 28% saying they had actually fallen asleep while driving. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, drowsy driving is a factor in more than 100,000 crashes, resulting in 6550 deaths and 80,000 injuries annually in the USA.

Drowsy Driving stats (additional States Below): http://www.nsc.org/Fatigue%20Documents/Drowsy-driving-poster.PDF

*** 30% of people report dozing off behind the wheel
*** 6,400 people die each year as a result of driving drowsy.
*** Losing 2 hours of sleep is equal to having 3 beers
*** False Info: Loud Music and rolling windows down will not protect you from drowsy driving.

Statistics show that deaths and accidents related to Drowsy Driving increases during the summer. In fact, drunk driving has now taken a backseat to drowsy driving as casualties numbers grow, effecting 1 in 5 accidents and responsible for thousands of deaths and billions of dollars in damage each year. Statistics show that deaths and accidents related to Drowsy Driving increases during the summer.

“We all die. The goal isn’t to live forever; the goal is to create something that will,” has become a motto that has been embraced by Anson Williams, who is continuing the efforts of his famous cousin (whom he called Uncle), Dr. Henry Heimlich (Heimlich Maneuver), by saving lives. Perhaps best know for his role of Potsie Weber on the hit series “Happy Days,” Anson is currently in the process of working with numerous organizations in several cities, in an effort to create an ongoing campaign to raise Drowsy Driving Awareness. As a father of five girls, he is concerned with the growing problem. Williams is taking a little known fact that has saved his own life to the public that could do the same for other families accross the country.

RECENT NEWS ACCOUNTS: Many recent article have warned of the rising spike in Drowsy Driving fatalities (June/2017 – http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865682997/Drowsy-driving-fatalities-spike-during-summer-months.html). According to Huffington Post and USA Today, Drowsy driving is a common but neglected problem, concludes a report by state safety advocates. (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2016/08/07/report-drowsy-driving-sleeper-threat-crashes/88300112/ or http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/09/the-healthy-sleep-project_n_7027430.html and http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/end-drowsy-driving_b_9615904.html) and numerous other respected and reliable sources, 1 in 5 accidents are caused by drowsy drivers, resulting in bodily injury and, all to often, death … often to entire families. What makes this statistic so unexceptable, is that it is completely unnecessary and easily fixed, and the simple answer to this problem has been inspired by Mr William’s uncle Dr. Henry Heimlich, creator of The Heimlich Maneuver and credited in the Guinness World Records book with being responsible for saving more lives that anyone else in written history.

It is not surprising that Drowsy Driving has become a leading problem and issue, given the enormous pressure put on people to not only succeed, but support a family in ever changing financial times, while still saving for the future – They are working longer and harder than ever before, and falling asleep at the wheel has become a very unwelcome and dangerous result of modern times – A problem that many police officers have said is a huge problem.

Anson William’s personal account: “I was having considerable trouble staying awake while driving home after long 15 hr workdays. My uncle, Dr. Heimlich, recommended keeping a lemon or a hot pepper in the car and whenever I started to feel drowsy to simply bite into it.  He explained how capsaicin from pepper or natural, citric acid from a lemon are the only two ingredients that stimulate the tongue’s sensory neurons, immediately alerting the brain to wake-up, your own adrenalin naturally kicked into a reflex action. I chose the lemon and it instantly worked, making me naturally alert and awake at the wheel without having any unnecessary stimulants, bad ingredients, etc, in my system. Actually, nothing even entered my system.again, my immediate alertness was caused from a natural reflex action that stimulated adrenalin. Research studies have found that over 100 million drivers become drowsy at the wheel of their car, one out of five admitting to falling asleep causing thousands of accidents and unnecessary fatalities.”-Anson Williams

Please take a moment and listen to the message from Anson at http://www.alertdrops.com