By Danielle Emerson
Staff Writer
Posted: March 17, 2017 2:15 PM

The date of March 17 is generally synonymous with St. Patrick’s Day, but one state representative wants you to remember to get some sleep too.

Rep. Henry Yanez (D-Sterling Heights) has sponsored a resolution (HR 40) declaring today as World Sleep Day in Michigan to encourage people to understand the importance of sleep to safety and healthy living.

In a statement, Mr. Yanez notes that the National Traffic Safety Administration reported drowsy driving was responsible for 72,000 crashes, 44,000 injuries and 800 deaths in 2013, “although they also believed the number of deaths were vastly underreported,” the statement indicates.

“Sleep deprivation also hinders productivity. It is estimated that American companies lost $63.2 billion every year due to lost productivity,” the statement noted. “Researchers have also linked chronic sleep deprivation to accelerated aging of the brain, and increased risk for heart attacks and strokes as well as other serious health conditions.”

The National Sleep Foundation also recommends the following amounts of sleep every night for different age groups:

• Newborns (0-3 months): 14-17 hours each day

• Infants (4-11 months): 12-15 hours each day

• Toddlers (1-2 years): 11-14 hours each day

• Preschoolers (3-5): 10-13 hours each day

• School age children (6-13): 9-11 hours each day

• Teenagers (14-17): 8-10 hours each day

• Younger adults (18-25): 7-9 hours each day

• Adults (26-64): 7-9 hours each day

• Older adults (65+): 7-8 hours each day

So here’s to hoping people get their sleep before they hit the pubs, because let’s be honest, intoxicated drivers are bad enough – they don’t need to be sleep-deprived on top of it. Here’s to also hoping that the next time the House (or the Legislature generally) decides to pull an all-nighter, Mr. Yanez encourages people to have enough sleep first.