“Driving fatigued has the same affect on your driving skills as driving when you are double the legal blood alcohol limit. Drew Dawson from the Appleton Institute talks about the dangers of driving fatigued.” Find out more about the affects of fatigue here: http://mac.sa.gov.au/campaigns/fatigue

What is Fatigue?

There are two types of fatigue:

Driving Related:

Occurs when a person becomes tired or fatigued after driving for two hours without a break. For example, when taking a long drive to a holiday destination.

Driving Whilst Fatigued:

Occurs when a person drives after being awake for 17+ hours. For example, shift workers or people with busy, stressful lives.

Fatigue can develop as a result of any of the following:

  • Working long hours
  • Getting poor sleep
  • Driving for too long and not taking breaks
  • Getting less than normal sleep
  • Insufficiently resting prior to driving
  • Driving home late at night
  • Driving when you would normally be sleeping
  • Driving while tired

Fatigue-related crashes are often more severe as driver reaction times are delayed. People may be slow to notice danger and when they do, slow to react. This generally includes: single vehicle crashes in which the vehicle drifts off the road; and multi-vehicle crashes in which a head-on collision occurs when the vehicle drifts onto the wrong side of the road.

Fatigue related crashes are often on open roads at high speeds and occur during the hours of 1pm-3pm and 2am-6am, with a higher incidence on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Did you know that fatigue could have the same effect as drink driving?

Driving after being awake for 17-19 hours is equivalent to driving with a BAC of approximately 0.05%. At this level, the risk of a crash is double than with a BAC of zero. Driving after 24-27 hours is equivalent to driving with a BAC of around 0.1%. At 0.1%, the risk of a crash is seven times greater than driving with a BAC of zero.

Prevent Fatigue. Rest every two hours when driving.