Driver fatigue is causing the wheels to fall off, dashcam study finds

NEW YORK: Driver fatigue causes many more car accidents in the US than previously estimated, a new report suggests.

The finding comes from an analysis of several months’ worth of video recordings taken of nearly 3 600 Americans while they were driving. During that time, participating drivers were involved in 700 accidents.

The researchers also had video of the road scene in front of the drivers.

Together, the footage suggested that the percentage of accidents involving sleepy drivers was about eight times higher than current federal estimates.

The finding was highlighted in a report released recently by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. “Driver drowsiness is a notoriously difficult problem to quantify because it typically doesn’t leave behind evidence that a police officer can observe after the fact when investigating a crash – in contrast to alcohol, for example,” said Brian Tefft, a senior research associate with the foundation in Washington, DC.

“Thus, we expected that our study would find that the problem was substantially bigger than the official statistics from the US DOT (Department of Transportation) suggest,” he said. The study found that about “10% of all motor vehicle crashes involve driver drowsiness”, Tefft said.

The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about one-third of American drivers aren’t getting the minimum seven hours of daily sleep that experts recommend.

To identify driver fatigue during car crashes, the researchers examined video taken during the one-to-three minute period preceding each accident. They then tallied the amount of time each driver’s eyes were closed in that timeframe.

Drivers were deemed to have been “drowsy” if their eyes stayed closed for more than 12% of the time.

The study team concluded that current estimates – which link 1 to 2% of all car crashes to driver fatigue – woefully underestimate the dimension of the driving-while-tired problem.

“Our previous research has shown that a driver’s risk of crashing increases significantly when they don’t get at least seven hours of sleep, and climbs to levels similar to the crash risk of a drunk driver after missing more than two to three hours of sleep over a 24hour period,” Tefft said.

He also suggested that people try to drive only at times when they are usually awake and avoid taking medications that make them sleepy.

On long trips, he said, consider taking roadside naps or travelling with someone who can share the driving.

David Reich, public relations director for The National Road Safety Foundation in New York City, said: “Many in the traffic safety field have long suspected that the incidence of drowsy driving is much higher than official reports indicate.”

Technology, coupled with more public education, can have a positive impact, Reich said.

Russ Martin, director of government relations with the Governors Highway Safety Association in Washington, DC, agreed that the findings weren’t unexpected.

“With drowsy driving, as with many traffic safety issues, there is no silver bullet,” he said.

However, Martin agreed that the wider use of technology could help reduce fatigue-related crashes.