Drowsy driving
HOW FATIGUE CONTRIBUTES TO DEADLY TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS
Ben Maddern remembers when driver fatigue nearly forced him off the road. “While working as a police officer I would spend weeks on a punishing shiftwork cycle,” he says. “A moment of exhaustion overcame me, but it was enough to make me stop, park the car, take a break, and never push myself so hard again.”
Maddern, who was in the
South Australia Police for nearly 20 years, says he was regularly confronted with the devastating impact of driver fatigue.
“Once I was pursuing an out-ofcontrol vehicle with a blown tyre,” Maddern, 49, says.
“Sparks were flying everywhere but the man, a night worker who’d finished an extra-long shift, had no idea. Fatigue can blind drivers to reality, and is a risk to everyone in the community.”
THE DANGERS
Every driver has experienced a moment when they struggle to keep their eyes open and are in danger of falling into a micro-sleep behind the wheel. But driver fatigue is often referred to as a “hidden killer” because many people are unaware they’re experiencing it.
According to road safety experts, tiredness is one of the major causes of road accidents. Driving when fatigued is as dangerous as speeding or driving under the influence of alcohol.
“One in five road crashes is due to fatigue and daytime sleepiness, but the exact number may be much higher,” says Jerome Carslake, director of the National Road Safety Partnership Program, Monash University Accident Research Centre.
Research has shown that after 17-19 hours without sleep, driver
performance is equivalent to, or worse than, having a blood alcohol concentration level of
0.05 per cent.
“Increased fatigue means reduced alertness, reduced reaction time, and impairment to situational awareness,” says Professor Sally Ferguson, an expert in fatigue risk management from Cquniversity in Adelaide.
“You don’t register or incorporate relevant information into your picture of the world, which means you’re not making decisions with the right information.”
Warning signs of driver fatigue go beyond yawning and feeling sleepy.
“There are behaviours like fidgeting, touching your face, and shifting in your seat,” Ferguson says.
“Also we tend to be easily distracted and less responsive to the vehicle, and there are moodrelated signs such as going quiet and getting cranky.”
KNOW YOUR TRIGGERS
Carslake says it’s important to know your triggers and not continue to drive while tired.
Other top tips include drivesharing if possible, driving no more than eight-to-10 hours a day, and staying overnight on a long trip.
“Driver fatigue is also worse if you’re driving at night because you’re meant to be asleep,” adds Carslake.
Experts agree that the best solution for driver fatigue is sleep.
Leading sleep expert, Olivia Arezzolo, has collaborated with
Toyota Australia to raise awareness about the problem and suggests taking short naps during long drives and having a break from driving for at least 20 minutes, or longer if you need to eat or use the bathroom.
“A recent study from Oregon State University has found that a 10-minute break can have the same benefits as an extra 44 minutes of sleep at night,” she says.
“Taking a nap of 30 minutes or less also prevents you from going into a deep sleep and waking up with sleep inertia, which is the feeling of being drunk and groggy upon waking.”
Arezzolo says a driving break is also an opportunity to meditate. She has created a free 10-minute guided meditation called Take A Break with Olivia Arezzolo that is available for download on Spotify.
“Meditation can reduce fatigue as it slows down brainwaves from fast ones called alpha and beta to slower ones called theta,” Arezzolo explains.
“In this state, we feel drowsy and can easily fall asleep, so listeners will be able to go into a nap with greater ease, and feel more alert upon waking.”
Maddern, who’s now a holistic wellness coach in Sydney, says that, before driving, in addition to getting plenty of sleep he also eats nutritious food and does plenty of exercise.
“Long journeys demand even more planning, which for me means packing healthy food, taking an upbeat music playlist and planning regular breaks,” Maddern says.