Like being affected by alcohol

We perceive, react and operate more slowly when we are tired. This is comparable to being affected by alcohol. But only a small number of people know that driving a car when tired is every bit as irresponsible and dangerous.

What can you do? 

We all experience tiredness occasionally when driving. The further you drive, the greater the risk of your alertness level and your ability to react being reduced.

Rolling the window down, playing loud music or slapping yourself in the face will not help. The only well-documented solution to tiredness when driving is to take a break before you reach a critical driving fatigue level.

The problem is that people who drive a lot cannot always tell when they have reached the point at which they are so tired that it affects their safety.

Surveys show that tiredness is the cause of: 

• Around 20% of all road traffic accidents¹⁾
• 25% of road traffic accidents with fatal outcomes, since accidents involving tiredness are, on average, more serious²⁾
• Up to 40% of all accidents involving just one vehicle and resulting in injury³⁾

By way of comparison, very tired motorists

• Run a risk up to eight times greater of having an accident than someone who has had plenty of rest⁴⁾

• Driving abilities equivalent to driving under the influence of alcohol⁵⁾

 

1) Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute, Sweden 2008
2) www.sikkertrafik.dk
3) Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute, Sweden 2008
4) British Medical Journal, 2002
5) Nature, 1997