Is Driver Fatigue a Problem?

Driver fatigue is a cause of:

• 6% of all crashes & 15% of fatal crashes in NSW

(NSW Road Safety Bureau)

• 5.5% of all injury crashes & 5.1% of fatal crashes

(NZ Police, LTSA 2000)

• 10 – 25% of all crashes

(Review of in-depth studies, UK Transport Research
Laboratory)
 What is Fatigue?
• How you feel • How you function
• tired (sleepy) • forgetful
• apathetic (don’t care) • slower reactions
• lethargic (can’t be • slower, muddled thinking
bothered) • harder to pay attention
• irritable (grouchy)
 What Causes Fatigue?
• Job demands • Human biology
• workload & breaks • sleep
• work duration • body clock
• type of work • health, age

Driver
Fatigue
• Work organisation
• trip scheduling
• work predictability
• Life outside work
• family & friends
• commuting
• standard of living
 Outline of This Module
• Explain how biology affects fatigue
• sleep
• the body clock

• Explain how fatigue affects driving & safety

• sleep loss, time-of-day, and driving
• some common ideas that are not right

• Recommend personal alertness management strategies

• at home
• at work

• Discussion
How Biology Affects Fatigue
 Two Kinds of Sleep

• Non-REM sleep • REM sleep

• deeper as brainwaves slow
down (stages 1,2,3,4)
• sleep inertia waking from
stages 3-4
• slow, regular heart rate
• slow, regular breathing
• rapid brain waves
• eyes moving under eyelids
• vivid dreaming
• uneven heart rate
• uneven breathing
• twitching
• paralysis
 A Good Night’s Sleep
Wake

REM

Stage 1

Stage 2

Stage 3

Stage 4

2400 0100 0200 0300 0400 0500 0600 0700

Time of day (hours)

 How Much Do We Get?
% Respondents
30

20

10

<5 6 8 10 >10

Usual sleep (hours)

 Sleep Quality

• About age 50,

• sleep at night becomes lighter, more disturbed, shorter
• sleepiness during the day increases

• Sleep disturbances
• broken sleep does not restore you like continuous sleep
• there are more than 80 known sleep disorders
 Sleep Apnoea
• Symptoms
• breathing pauses during sleep
• loud snoring
• very sleepy

• Who is at risk?
• middle-aged men
• over weight (large neck)

• May lead to
• heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke
• greater risk of motor vehicle crashes
 Drugs and Sleep
• Alcohol
• can help you fall asleep BUT…
• blocks REM sleep early in the night
• withdrawal later in the night - dreams, disturbed sleep

• Sleeping pills
• most don’t give normal sleep structure (non-REM / REM)
• effects can last too long and make you sleepy at work
• can have side effects
• smallest dose, shortest time, supervised by your doctor

• Other medicines
• can disturb sleep
• if in doubt, ask your doctor
 Sleep is Vital
• No sleep = Death
• Not enough sleep leads to
• feeling sleepier
• harder to pay attention
• slower reaction times
• slower, muddled thinking
• erratic speed control
• sloppy steering

• Effects of sleep loss build up

• Recovery usually takes two full nights of sleep in a row
Falling Asleep at the Wheel
 Sleepiness: Two Kinds
• Biological sleepiness (need for sleep) gets stronger
• if you haven’t had enough sleep
• as you stay awake longer
• in the early hours of the morning
• in the middle of the afternoon

• How sleepy you feel

• a combination of biological sleepiness AND…
• how physically active you are AND…
• stimulation from the environment (including caffeine)

Don’t push it – if you feel sleepy, stop

 The Body Clock
• The body has its own internal clock

• It programmes us to sleep at night

• Without outside time cues, it runs on a “biological

day” lasting about 25 hours

• It is normally synchronised to 24-hours by outside

time cues
• the day/night cycle (light/dark)
• social cues from the day-active community
• work patterns
 Times of Increased Risk

3-5 am
• lowest core temperature
• maximum sleepiness 3-5 pm
• poorest performance • high sleepiness
(mental and physical)
• hard to stay vigilant

core temperature cycle

Timing of Fall-Asleep Crashes

1000 N = 6052

800

600

400

200

Midnight 6 am Noon 6 pm Midnight

• The clock can’t adapt
• the day/night cycle and the rest of society don’t change

• Trying to work when your clock says “go to

sleep!”
• Trying to sleep when your clock says “wake up!”
• Trying to sleep when there is most distraction

Problems With Nightwork

 Jet Lag

• Adaptation to local time depends on

• the rhythm being measured
• number of time zones crossed
• direction of travel (west faster than east)
• exposure to sunlight & social cues
• Starting out sleep deprived worsens symptoms
How Fatigue Affects Driving
 Sleep Loss and Driving
Worse 0.53
0.51 no sleep
0.49 sleep
0.47

Lateral 0.45
Deviation 0.43
0.41
0.39
0.37
0.35
Better 8:00 AM 11:00 AM 2:00 PM 5:00 PM 8:00 PM

Time of Day
 Sleep Loss Versus Alcohol
Worse
18
16
no sleep
14
0.04% BAC
12
% 10
Steering 8
Impairment
6
4
2
0
Better 08:00 11:00- 14:00 17:00- 20:00 23:00
12:00 18:00

Time of Day
 Mistaken Ideas

X If you need 8 hours of sleep

then an 8 hour rest break is enough
X
• You need time:
• to go to and from work;
• to relax, eat, and sleep;
• for household tasks and recreation.
• The body clock won’t always let you sleep.
• Rest is not the same as sleep.
 Mistaken Ideas

X I’ve been this tired before, and I can cope X

• When you are sleepy;
• you tend to over-estimate your own alertness;
• your judgement isn’t as good.

• When you are very sleepy, motivation can’t stop you

falling asleep.
• It is harder to cope with disturbed schedules as you get
older.
 Mistaken Ideas
There is a quick-fix that will solve
X driver fatigue X
• Human biology is complex.
• People are not all the same.
• Different jobs and different rosters have
different demands.
Alertness Management Strategies
 Please Remember …
• These are recommendations based on
what is currently known.

• Customise them to suit your situation.

• Strategies can be used in combination

- find what works best for you.
 Two Kinds of Strategies
• Things to do at home to help you arrive at work as well-
rested as possible:
• good advice on how to improve your sleep;
• currently no practical advice on how to force the body clock to
follow changing work schedules.

• Things to do at work to help you to get home safely:

• ways to temporarily reduce the effects of fatigue;
• these help you to do the job safely and efficiently.
 At Home: Getting Enough Sleep
• Days off
• Get the best sleep possible. Don’t start your next work schedule
with a sleep debt.

• Work days
• Try to get as much sleep in 24 hours as you need to be rested on a
day off.

• Listen to your body

• If you feel sleepy and circumstances allow … sleep!
• If you wake up spontaneously and can’t go back to sleep in about
30 minutes … get up!
 At Home: Naps
• Naps improve your functioning even if you don’t feel great.

• Short naps:
• less than 40 minutes;
• avoids sleep inertia.

• Longer naps:
• remember the non-REM / REM cycle (90 minutes);
• allow time for 1 or 2 cycles (2 hours or 3.5 hours).

• Some sleep is always better than none.

 At Home: Good Sleep Habits
• Have a regular pre-sleep routine

• Keep the bedroom a “safe sleep” zone

• avoid work, worry, exercise …

• Make sleep a priority – protect your sleep time

• Avoid eating or drinking too much before bed

• if hungry have a light snack

• Avoid alcohol, caffeine and cigarettes before bed

• Learn a relaxation technique to help you to fall asleep

• If you don’t fall asleep in about 30 minutes, get out of bed

 At Home: Good Sleep Habits
• Sleep environment • Lifestyle
• dark room • exercise regularly
• use mask or heavy curtains • eat a balanced diet
• quiet room
• turn off the phone
• use ear plugs
• comfortable temperature
• comfortable surface

The responsibility for reporting fit for work rests with you
 Trip Planning
• Having to get up early can shorten your sleep, adding to
your sleep debt
• Plan enough time in your daily schedule for short breaks &
meal breaks
• Keep a regular meal pattern
• Remember, sleepiness increases mid-afternoon - take a
siesta
• If your day runs late, take the safe option - stay over
 Driving: Feeling Sleepy?

• Short-term aids (15 mins) • Breaks

to get you to a place to • Improvements last longer
stop with naps, caffeine, or both
• cold air (1 hr plus)
• radio on • Nap for 10 – 40 minutes

All strategies are less effective when

you are more sleepy
 Driving: For Caffeine Drinkers
• Avoid overuse of caffeine
• use it to increase alertness when you need it
• usually takes 15-45 minutes to take effect

• Don’t use it when you are already alert

• not at the beginning of a drive or straight after a nap

• Avoid caffeine near bedtime

• effects usually last 3-5 hours

• Know your own limits

• Drink other liquids to stay hydrated. Water is good!

If you don’t already drink caffeine, don’t start.

Dinner and Drinks?
• Alcohol later in the evening has a worse
effect on your driving skills.

• Alcohol may help you fall asleep but

disturbs sleep quality.
• Get your blood alcohol to zero before
sleep.

• Caffeine disturbs your sleep.

• Know your limits.

• It can be hard to fall asleep with an

over-full stomach.
 Key Points
• Fatigue has biological causes

• The effects of sleep loss build up

• If you ignore sleepiness, in the end you will fall asleep uncontrollably
• Two full nights in a row of good sleep are needed for recovery
• We are programmed to sleep at night, and be sleepy again mid-afternoon
• There is no single, simple answer to fatigue problems
• These are recommendations – find what works for you
• Improve your own situation … now!