Circadian rhythm and road crashes
THE recent factory bus crash, which claimed the lives of the driver and 11 passengers who were foreign workers, is another black mark in our road safety track record.
There seems to be apathy on the part of the authorities to the plight of our guests workers and also the driver involved in the accident.
Would their response have been the same had these people been white-collar workers? The poor blue-collar foreign workers travelled thousands of kilometres from their home country to ours to take up the dangerous, dirty and difficult jobs which Malaysians shun.
What we are seeing today is the result of a lackadaisical management of road safety. The usual response from the authorities when a major accident occurs is to conduct an investigation. Year in, year out, we seem to be getting the same approach when an accident occurs, but there is little or no positive outcome.
Road traffic accidents remain a national scourge. Official statistics reveal a staggering 7,000 road traffic deaths per year in this country. The World Health Organization estimates that for every road traffic death, we can anticipate 15 serious and 70 minor injuries. Based on this estimate, 100,000 families in Malaysia are devastated annually due to deaths, serious injuries, disabilities or hospitalisation as a result of road crashes. In fact, Malaysia has one of the highest traffic fatality rates in the region.
It is common knowledge that many drivers of commercial heavy vehicles work long hours to earn extra income.
There have also been reports of drivers taking drugs to stay awake and driving recklessly to keep up with their schedule, undocumented foreigners being hired as drivers, and owners of transport companies who do not assign a second driver on long-haul routes as well as the cut-throat competition between transport companies.
Statistics also indicate that about 10,000 road crashes are caused by inferior retread tyres on heavy vehicles, including buses.
Like the factory bus crash, many accidents occur during the night due to driver fatigue. This is understandable as we have an in-built physiological mechanism known as the circadian rhythm.
This is a biological clock in our brain that regulates many of our daily activities like sleep, wakefulness, hunger, body temperature and bowel habits.
For most of us, our body is at low levels of activity at night, with 4.30am being the time for lowest heart rate, pulse rate and body activity. Hence, this is the time of great vulnerability to road accidents. This is due to the production of melatonin, a hormone in our body that plays a role in sleep.
The production and release of melatonin in the brain is connected to the time of day, increasing when it is dark (9pm) and decreasing when there is light (7am). Research indicates that road accidents occur most frequently between midnight and 4am.
It is time for the authorities to clamp down on the errant transport companies and drivers. The installation of global positioning system equipment in heavy vehicles has been discussed in length but we have yet to see it being implemented.
Enforcement has to be carried out more stringently against drivers who take drugs, drive recklessly or are illegally employed. Mandatory health screening for mental health issues as well as fitness to drive must also be advocated. Owners/operators of transport companies must be hauled up and their business licence revoked if they short-change their drivers or the drivers are involved in accidents or have too many traffic summonses.
Vehicle maintenance is another area of concern. It is time for the government to ban the use of retread tyres in heavy vehicles.
We often hear of brake failure as another cause of accidents. In this case, effort must be taken to determine whether imitation parts are being used intentionally or unintentionally by the lorry transport companies or mechanics to make an extra buck.
Let’s not wait for more road accident fatalities to occur. Act now, especially with Hari Raya Aidil Fitri being just two months away, to prevent more deaths and disability due to road crashes.