Driver fatigue: Tackling A Silent Killer On Our Roads

Intelligent seat belts, electronic diaries and smartphone driver alerts. There’s no doubt technology has an important role to play in tackling a silent killer on our roads, but it will never replace common sense.

Driver fatigue impairs judgement, reduces attention spans and slows reaction times. The Australian Transport Council* has estimated up to 30% of road deaths in this country are caused by fatigue. This number is so high because a driver who falls into a microsleep is unable to brake before they hit a wall, a tree or another vehicle travelling in the opposite direction.

Somebody who nods off for just four seconds at 100 kilometres per hour has travelled more than 100 metres before they next look at the road. A survey of almost 3000 Australian drivers conducted by IPSOS Research found that a quarter (24%) had fallen asleep at the wheel. Drivers are at greater risk of adding to these statistics:

• When travelling between 10pm and sunrise
• If travelling alone
• Driving on country roads
• In commercial vehicles
• After taking medicine
• Coming home from a social event
• During holiday periods like Christmas and Easter

Research by the Adelaide Centre for Sleep Research has compared driver fatigue to drink driving. It says a driver who has been awake for 17 hours has the same reaction times as somebody with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.05 grams per 100 millilitres. This is the legal limit in Australia. They are twice as likely to have a crash as a well-rested driver with no blood alcohol content. A driver who has been awake around the clock is comparable to someone with a BAC of 0.1. They are seven times more likely to crash.

The difficulty with driving under the influence of fatigue is that it’s natural, unlike drinking alcohol or taking drugs where you’ve ingested chemicals. It’s also more difficult to monitor than an overt act like, for instance, speeding. Fatigue is particularly difficult for governments to manage because it affects people in different ways. Some of us need to sleep for eight hours a night to function properly while others can get by perfectly well on four hours. Policy can’t be directed at individuals.

There’s also no social stigma because fatigue can affect anybody indiscriminately. A lot of people who drive while overly tired think they’re ‘doing the right thing’ because it’s related to their job. Unfortunately they greatly increase the risk of road trauma for themselves and other people.

There’s been much research into simple technology solutions, such assmartphone alarms that force drivers to pull over, and more complex ones to monitor brain wave activity, eye movement and driver energy levels. Technology companies and university researchers in Europe have joined forces to develop a seatbelt and car seat cover that alerts drowsy drivers.

Closer to home, The National Road Safety Strategy 2011-2020 has ordered more research into electronic work diaries for heavy goods vehicle drivers and crash-risk metrics for drowsiness. It has called for new public information campaigns and additional rest areas that will give drivers more opportunity to manage fatigue. Future developments could include a nationally accepted definition for fatigue crashes, improved training of general practitioners to identify and treat sleep disorders, further education that will help police officers more accurately identify fatigue-related crashes and investment in safer road design.

All of this will help but, ultimately, road users must act responsibly. Loss of concentration, yawning and drowsiness are all signs of fatigue that shouldn’t be ignored. Drifting out of your lane and unintentionally changing speed are also good indicators. Drivers who spot these signs must take a break or, where possible, swap drivers.

Research shows that staying on the road when you’re tired is a life and death situation. Don’t become a statistic.

*This has since been replaced by the Standing Council on Transport and Infrastructure