DRIVER FATIGUE: The second biggest killer on Australian roads

Being awake for 17 hours can have a similar effect on your driving performance as a blood alcohol content of 0.05.

Fatigue is not just extreme exhaustion, but includes everyday mental or physical tiredness that affect a person’s ability to function.

​Fatigue reduces attentiveness and alertness to dangers, slows reaction times and can lead to microsleeps.

Tiredness can occur on any drive - no matter how long or short, or the time of day.

​Driving at night is when you are most at risk of tiredness, as well as after lunch and early in the morning.

Avoid driving tired
It’s important to think about how tired you are before and while you are driving. There are a number of key strategies you can use to lower the risks of driving tired.

Get a good night’s sleep
Where possible, avoid driving between midnight and 6:00am, when your body naturally wants to sleep.

Plan regular breaks
Know the early warning signs of fatigue - yawning, sore eyes, difficulty concentrating, restlessness, oversteering.

While driving take regular breaks
If you start to feel tired, or experience any early warning signs, pull over somewhere safe and take a nap - 15-20 minutes works best.

MICROSLEEP
The shortest but the most deadliest sleep. It might be your last sleep if you are driving.

What is a Microsleep?
A microsleep is a brief and unintended episode of sleep characterised by head snapping, nodding or closing your eyes. It can be deadly behind the wheel. During a four-second microsleep, a vehicle travelling at 60km/h will travel 67 metres while completely out of the driver’s control.

Signs of Microsleep
Microsleeps occur when an individual loses and regains awareness after a brief lapse in consciousness, often without warning, or when there are sudden shifts between states of wakefulness and sleep. In behavioural terms, microsleeps manifest as droopy eyes, slow eyelid closure and head nodding.

THE ONLY ANSWER TO FATIGUE IS SLEEP! ​