Drowsy driving what you need to know…

Excerpts from www.arrivealive.co.za

But how do we reduce road crashes which have been caused by driver tiredness?
Raising only Awareness of Driver Fatigue not Sufficient!

Researcher have concluded that in general, a road safety publicity campaign, by itself, has only modest impact on attitudes and behaviour and no significant impact on crashes. Safety campaigns work best when combined with other interventions, such as enforcement of traffic laws and regulations, or provision of other safety services and products.

Perception of sleepiness does not result in cessation of driving. Although it is possible to educate or teach drivers to become more aware of the early signs of fatigue or sleepiness, it may be very difficult to make them take a break from driving.

A problem for driver fatigue campaigns is that public fatigue campaigns is that fatigued driving by private drivers is not punishable by law. It is therefore difficult if not impossible, at least where private drivers are concerned to link public campaign themes with enforcement or legal consequences. For professional drivers, the case is different where there may be legislation and the possibility of enforcement concerning work and rest hours.

As a online road safety portal we can however play a small part in raising awareness of these risks, and motivate not only drivers but also passengers to help identify when a driver may be fatigued.

This is how you know you are too tired to drive:

  • You keep yawning

  • Your reactions slow down

  • you feel stiff and eyes feel heavy

  • You find you are day dreaming

  • You find yourself wandering on the road

  • Temporary dozing off

  • Burning eyes

  • Day dreaming

  • Blurred vision

  • Loss of concentration

  • Poor gear selection

  • Misjudging distance to another vehicle