Too little sleep radically affects your ability to drive safely and after five hours? sleep you only have a one in ten chance of staying fully awake on a lengthy journey.
WHO IS AT RISK?
The highest group is young male
drivers, who are most likely to crash due to tiredness in the early morning
after little or no sleep. Older male drivers are also at risk during the
mid-afternoon, when it is common to experience a ?dip? in your body clock.
FACT: About four in ten tiredness-related crashes involve someone driving a commercial vehicle.
Case study
Charlie Mitchell, 20, died on 9 May 1995
when a lorry hit his moped from behind on the A1 near Cromwell in
Nottinghamshire. The lorry driver had fallen asleep at the wheel after driving
600 miles in 15 hours without taking his legally-required breaks.
THE LAW
If you are found to be driving tired, you may
be charged with: - careless driving (when driving has fallen below the
standard expected of a careful and competent driver); - dangerous driving
(when driving has fallen far below the standard expected of a careful
and competent driver).
If you cause a death while driving tired, you can be charged with death by dangerous driving, if there is sufficient evidence available. The maximum penalty for death by dangerous driving is 14 years in prison.
It can sometimes be difficult to prove that a crash was caused by driver tiredness. This is partly due to the fact that, unlike alcohol, tiredness leaves no physical traces in someone who is dead or unconscious. If you are involved in a crash when you have been driving tired, you may not remember feeling tired beforehand. However, the police can still investigate tiredness as a possible cause by looking into your schedules, hours, tacographs (if you drive a truck for work), the type of impact and eyewitness statements. The police can also examine marks on the road for evidence of braking.
WHAT FACTORS CONTRIBUTE TO DRIVER TIREDNESS?
Many factors can contribute to driver tiredness and increase your risk of being involved in a tiredness-related crash.
Time of day
The most common times for drivers (with
normal sleep patterns) to fall asleep are early morning (midnight-6am) and
early afternoon (2pm-4pm) when the body clock ?dips?.
Stress
A typical symptom of stress due to work or home
life pressures is tiredness.
Lack of sleep
Drivers may suffer lack of sleep for a
number of possible reasons: - Disturbed sleep ? for example, caused by a baby,
stress or domestic problems, or due to sleep disorders such as insomnia and
sleep apnoea. To find out more about sleep apnoea, click
here. - Irregular sleep patterns ? this can be a problem if you
work shifts and switch regularly from day to night shifts without having
sufficient time off in between for your body clock to adjust. - Insufficient
rest periods ? if you work long hours or have long commutes to work. You may
also not get sufficient rest if you juggle more than one job or fit in a
demanding hobby.
Shifts and rest breaks
If you work long shifts you are
more likely to suffer fatigue, particularly if your work involves long
journeys on monotonous roads, such as motorways. If you drive for work or as
part of your work you will become tired more quickly if you do not take
regular breaks from driving.
Medication
Both prescription drugs, including some
anti-depressants and over-the-counter drugs can affect driving by causing
drowsiness and impaired alertness. Over-the-counter drugs sometimes carry
warnings that are not immediately obvious or entirely clear in the meaning.
You should always check with your doctor or pharmacist whether any medication
you take can impair driving.
Vehicle engineering
Vehicles are often quieter and more
comfortable than they used to be, meaning you might be more relaxed when
driving. As well as this, driving can have a lulling effect, particularly in
vehicles fitted with comfort-enhancing features, such as cruise control.
PLANNING AND SCHEDULING
If you are planning on driving
a considerable distance or if you drive for work, you should make sure you
plan ahead and allow sufficient time for regular breaks. The Government
recommends that drivers take breaks of at least 15 minutes at least every two
hours. However, If you get tired sooner than every two hours you may need more
breaks.
Driving for work
You should allow for unexpected
hold-ups, such as congestion, which can mean a journey takes far longer than
expected, leading to tiredness and the temptation to speed. If you are running
late for a scheduled appointment, you should rearrange for another time,
rather than ?press on? without taking regular rest breaks.
You should ensure that you never work shifts that are too long. If you think you are driving for longer than you should be, speak to your employer. Employers have responsibilities under road traffic law which mean that they should not set unrealistic schedules and must not put you at risk by work-related activities.
If your job involves travelling more than two hours in each direction to a work location where you are working for a period of four or more hours, you should consider alternative means of transport or staying in overnight accommodation. If you are unexpectedly held up or feel too tired to drive after a day?s work, you must not drive.
If you regularly travel to meetings or appointments, it might be a good idea to look into alternative modes of transport, such as trains or planes. This would allow you to rest or work during the journey. Using other types of transport can often be cheaper than travelling by car if all costs are taken into account, including fuel, depreciation and wear and tear. There is also the higher risk of travelling on the road to take into consideration. In some cases, it might even by possible for you to eliminate the need to travel altogether, for example by using video conferencing facilities rather than meeting in person.
WISE UP!
You should remember that safety is the most
important thing to consider while driving ? much more important than sticking
to a schedule. However, you might not always realise just how tired you are,
so it is important that you are aware of the warning signs.
What are the warning signs?
Research shows that normal
sleep does not occur without warning. You should know when you are starting to
feel sleepy. Warning signs include: increased difficulty concentrating;
yawning; heavy eyelids; eyes starting to ?roll?; and neck muscles relaxing,
making the head droop. If you experience these symptoms, you should find
somewhere safe to rest as soon as possible, rather than trying to fight off
tiredness. Winding down the window, listening to music and talking to a
passenger do not help prevent sleep, although they may temporarily help you to
stay alert until you find somewhere safe to stop.
Microsleeps
A ?microsleep? occurs when someone nods off
to between two and 30 seconds without realising or remembering it, often
recalled afterwards as ?head-nodding?. This occurs when people are tired but
are trying to stay awake, most common in monotonous situations. Nodding off
for just a few seconds at the wheel can be fatal: if you are driving on a
motorway at 70mph and nod off for six seconds you would travel nearly 200
metres, which could take you across three lanes of traffic and down an
embankment onto another road or train track.
What should you do?
The Department for Transport?s
advice is for you to get plenty of sleep before a journey, plan your journey
to include time for adequate rest not set out if you are already feeling
tired.
Remember the risks if you have to get up unusually early to start your trip, or have a long drive home after a full day?s work.
If you start to feel sleepy while driving: - Stop for a 15 minute break somewhere safe as soon as possible. This should never be on the hard shoulder as this is extremely dangerous. - If you drink caffeine, drink two cups of coffee or a high-caffeine drink, such as an energy drink. - Take a 10-15 minute rest or snooze, but no longer as you will go into a different type of sleep. Set an alarm clock to wake you. By the time you wake up the caffeine will have kicked in and you should be ready to continue your journey. - If you still feel tired, you should not continue your journey. - Bear in mind that the caffeine is a temporary drug and its effects do not last long. Sleep is the only long-term cure to tiredness.
Safe motoring,
Mark Born