Fatigue
Background
The importance of fatigue as a
cause of crashes is almost certainly underestimated in crash
investigations; this is because fatigue is not easily
quantifiable. Between the 1995 and 2004 0.9% of serious
crashes in the metropolitan area and 3.6% in the rural areas were
fatigue-related. However most experts estimate that 20%
to 30% of fatal road crashes could be result from driver
fatigue.
Effects of fatigue
Fatigue causes several problems for
drivers. They are: slow reactions and decisions; slow control
movements; decreased tolerance for other road users; poor lane
tracking and maintenance of headway speed; and loss of situational
awareness. Research indicates that 17 to 19 hours of
sustained wakefulness produced similar or worse levels of
performance than a Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) of
0.05g/100mL. While 20 to 25 hours of wakefulness produced
performance levels similar to that seen with a BAC of
0.10g/100mL.
Signs of Fatigue
Between 1995 and 2004 men were more
likely to be involved in a fatigue-related crash than women.
Men aged 17-29 are more likely than any other age and gender group
to be involved as a driver or motorcycle rider in a fatigue-related
crash. Factors increasing a driver's risk for involvement in
a sleep-related motor vehicle crash include: holding multiple jobs,
working a night shift, averaging less than 6 hours sleep per night,
poor overall quality of sleep, excessive daytime sleepiness,
frequent night time driving, use of soporific medications, driving
after being awake for more than 15 hours, driving for longer time
periods and driving after sleeping less than 5 hours the night
before.
Strategies
Recent strategies undertaken by the
Road Safety Council have concentrated on making people aware of the
early signs of fatigue. Most people are aware of the late
physical signs of fatigue such as rubber necking, heading nodding
and micro sleeps but are less aware of early physical signs such as
blinking, tired eyes and yawning and mental signs such as
forgetfulness and being in a daze.
Drive to survive
To drive to survive you should:
- get plenty of sleep before you
start your trip
- plan ahead-work out rest stops and
overnight stops before you start
- avoid alcohol before and during
your journey
- check medications with your doctor
and make sure they won't make you drowsy
- eat sensibly-not too little, not
too much
- get plenty of fresh air-leave your
window open or air-conditioning on
- take regular breaks-you should
stop for at least 15 minutes every two hours
- share the driving
- use rest areas, tourist spots and
driver reviver stops whenever and wherever possible
- stop and rest as soon as you feel
tired
- never drive for more than 10 hours
in a single day.
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