The average Swede sleeps less and worse than ever. Twenty percent of Sweden ’s population have constant sleeping problems these days. More and more people are having sleep problems the closer we get to the 24/7 society. In addition, the Swedes’ sleeping problems are having a greater impact on road safety.
Twenty-four hour access to all services is the major feature of the 24/7 society. TV, internet, radio etc. are available all day and all night long. Food stores and other shops are open longer and longer. Many people these days have irregular working hours with later evenings and nights. Drowsy and tired drivers on the roads cause approximately every fifth road accident. Fatigue on the roads is as dangerous as alcohol is in traffic.
Professional drivers, shift workers and young people in the danger zone
Anna Anund at VTI is doing research into fatigue in traffic and feels that the problem of tiredness should be highlighted much more in order to make it possible to realise the vision of zero deaths on the road. Tiredness causes just as many accidents as alcohol does. The problem is a serious one, with approximately 40–50 people dying each year in accidents caused by driver fatigue. A great many people underestimate the danger of driving when tired and overestimate their ability to handle the situation. It is not enough with music playing, a cup of coffee and the window open to stay alert. The body needs to rest and drivers have to plan their driving accordingly.
The drivers running the highest risk of being involved in an accident are young drivers and those people who drive for a living. Young drivers do less to stay alert and what they do has less effect. Professional drivers find it hard to stop and have a nap, mainly due to the tight schedules set by transport firms and partly out of fear of their load being stolen. Shift workers are also a high-risk group.
Can we abolish the 24/7 society?
No, but we have to realise there are less positive sides to our night and day society which play havoc with people’s health. The problem of tiredness is one of these downsides. Many things could be done to reduce the risks with tired motorists. One strategic measure for example could be more information and training or maybe vehicles and the road environment could be designed so as not to contribute to driver drowsiness. One tactical move could be the introduction of rumble strips, grooved ribs in the road verge, to warn drivers. On the operative side, there are driver support systems that turn off the ignition if the driver falls asleep at the wheel to give just one example.
A number of projects have just started which will reduce the number of accidents caused by driver fatigue.
It is vital to inform drivers
It is of great importance to focus information and training efforts on young drivers and people driving for a living, and even those who have influence over the working conditions of professional drivers.
The top priority is to make drivers realise the risks of driving while tired.
– One potential move is to increase drivers’ awareness that when you are tired, you lose your power of judgement. This leads to underestimating the risks and overestimating your own ability. This should be a natural part of driving schools’ curriculum, says Anna Anund.
The information made available can come in useful whenever the driver starts feeling drowsy at the wheel. It will be tactical information where the driver will be able to find out about effective things to do and the importance of doing something about being drowsy. Conceivably the information could be for instance, noise from rumble strips, grooves in the road verge, or noises from various types of support systems. However, the driver has to be motivated to make these effective moves.
Various driver support systems
Driver supports are technical systems designed to detect driver tiredness and drivers who are falling asleep. The system would react for example by giving off signals or stopping the vehicle. The driver’s blinking duration can be measured by the driver support system to determine whether a driver is starting to get tired or is falling asleep. The car would then let the driver know using different kinds of signals. Another way would be to monitor the driving behaviour of the driver, i.e. how the vehicle is kept on the road by monitoring driver be-haviour at the wheel. The system would warn the driver either with a signal feedback system or by intervention such as bringing the vehicle to a stop.
The road environment and the world around it
One of VTI's projects is about ribbed grooves in the road surface, so called 'rumble strips' and is an example of possible measures to be taken in the road environment. Rumble strips make the car shudder and shake if the car starts to wander off the road. The driver will hopefully realise that she or he is about to drive off the road and take suitable action to correct this.
Anna Anund thinks that quality assurance could be one of many other measures to be considered more. There should be a requirement that transport agreements include sufficient sleeping time for the truck drivers.
– The problem of fatigue has to be regarded as a working conditions issue, and it may well be necessary to pass laws about driving time and rest periods, concludes Anna Anund.
Contact
anna.anund@vti.se