Driver fatigue – an accident waiting to happen
Useful Sites
Driver fatigue (Roads and Traffic Authority, New South Wales, Australia)
Provides an overview of driver fatigue. In addition, you can access more information about specific topics (eg, 'Facts about sleep and fatigue' and 'Problem definition and countermeasures').
Driver fatigue (National Roads and Motorists' Association, Australia)
A series of questions and answers designed to alert people to the warning signs of fatigue and how to avoid it.
Managing driver fatigue (VicRoads, Australia)
A brochure for the general public covering causes and management of driver fatigue.
Fatigue and fatigue research: The Australian experience (Monash University Accident Research Centre, Australia)
This 1998 paper reviews the extent and nature of driver fatigue in road crashes and summarises the kinds of investigations undertaken by driver fatigue researchers.
Fatigue-related crashes: An analysis of fatigue-related crashes on Australian roads using an operational definition of fatigue (Road Safety Research, Australian Transport Safety Bureau)
The executive summary of this 2002 report discusses the effectiveness of the operational definition that was used in the study and presents an overview of the findings. You can download the complete report from this page as a PDF file.
2001 Road Safety Conference papers (Murdoch University, Australia)
Rest and Arrive route 95 Murchison Fatigue Management Project
Describes a Western Australia project to raise motorist's awareness of the risk factors, warning signs and preventative behaviours associated with driver fatigue and thus to reduce fatigue-related crashes.
Towards the development of a countermeasure device to detect fatigue in drivers from electroencephalography signals
Describes computer software that uses ECG signals to detect an alert state and early, medium and extreme levels of fatigue.
Australian Broadcasting Corporation (transcripts)
Computer tells miners they’re dozing off (News in Science, 17 May 2006)
Describes Australian research that provides warning of driver fatigue.
Safer driving: fatigue monitoring (The Buzz, 15 December 2003)
Describes how monitoring brain waves can help detect driver fatigue.
Sleep research (The Health Report, 1 May 2000)
Discusses studies that looked at how much sleep people need, the effects of sleep-deprivation, and the effectiveness of naps.
Page updated June 2006.