Salina ? Drowsy drivers aren’t a new problem, but a growing one, Kansas officials say. It’s a problem that sometimes has deadly implications.

“Some people find themselves on autopilot,” said David Greiser, a spokesman for the Kansas Department of Transportation. “If you don’t remember the last several minutes or miles, you probably dozed off and should get off the road.”

Drivers falling asleep were listed as the cause of 850 Kansas traffic accidents in 2001, according to the Kansas Traffic Accidents Facts released by the department. But Greiser said that number didn’t really show the extent of the problem in the state.

“It’s impossible to attribute drowsy driving as the direct cause of most wrecks,” he said. “The only way is if the driver tells us, and that seldom happens.”

Officials say a sleepy driver is almost as dangerous as a drunken one, exhibiting many of the same driving mistakes.

“They’re swerving,” Saline County Sheriff Glen Kochanowski said. “They’re all over the road. A tired driver’s driving is very erratic.”

Kochanowski attributes the increase in the number of sleepy drivers to a number of factors, including hectic schedules that prevent people from getting enough sleep and force them onto the highways when they should be resting.

“In this day and age, with jobs and schedules the way they are, more drivers are getting behind the wheel when they’re tired,” Kochanowski said.