Driving while even mildly dehydrated can double your risk of getting into an accident, a report said.

Research by Loughborough University found that people who drank 25ml of fluid an hour were twice as likely to have an accident than those who drank 200ml per hour, reported the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication, citing a UK study.

Those who drank less fluid had the same chance of getting into an accident as people who drank the maximum amount of alcohol allowed for driving in the UK.

The discovery coincides with Ramadan when fasting Muslims do not eat or drink at all during the daytime, despite temperatures reaching 40C during peak sunlight hours in Bahrain.

Bahrain Medical Society (BMS) vice-president Dr Ghada Al Qassim said the findings illustrated the importance of staying properly hydrated at night.

“Dehydration can cause loss of concentration and can keep people from doing daily activities to their best capacity,” she told the GDN.

“Water comprises about three-quarters of our bodies and is very important to keep us going through the day.

“Many people get busy in Ramadan and forget to drink enough water, but it is important that they know their body needs to replenish what it lost during the day.

“Drink as much as five to six litres a day, but of course people suffering from diseases such as kidney failure have to drink less.”

The Loughborough University study found that drivers who drank only 25ml of water an hour made a similar number of driving errors as those with a blood alcohol content of 0.08 per cent, the current UK legal driving limit.

Researchers carried out a range of tests over two days on male drivers using a laboratory-based driving simulator.

On one day drivers who were normally hydrated with 200ml of fluid every hour recorded a total of 47 accidents.

However, there were 101 mistakes when the same drivers were given just 25ml to drink every hour.

Dr Al Qassim said she was not surprised by the results of the tests.

“While I cannot comment on the validity of the study until verifying its methods and criteria, I must say I am not surprised that dehydration actually causes driving mistakes,” she said.

“Dehydration affects mental functioning and can mess with the balance of electrolytes in the body, which most of the time leaves people unfocused.

“To avoid this from happening in Ramadan, people need to learn how to compensate by drinking as much as possible after sunset and until sunrise.” – TradeArabia News Service