Fighting Driver Fatigue and Distraction Across Fleets
WORDS BY MIX TELEMATICS
Driving carries a certain amount of risk at the best of times . Even when the road is clear and a driver is at their most alert , distractions like mobile phones , chatting to passengers , eating , drinking , smoking and points of interest outside a vehicle can lead to a crash – sometimes fatal .
Make no mistake : driver fatigue and distraction are becoming serious problems resulting in significant road fatalities on Australian roads every year . Two in every ten road crashes are now reported as being fatigue-related while distracted driving is now the number one cause of crashes . When you think that driving while on your phone for just two seconds is equivalent to 33 metres of blind driving , it ’ s a worrying trend that needs to be managed .
What causes driver fatigue ? There are two main causes of driver fatigue : 1 . The quality and quantity of your last sleep .
2 . Driving at times of the day when you would normally be sleeping .
Distracted drivers can be deadly drivers
Driver distraction is the diversion of attention away from driving toward another competing activity . Distracted driving has been identified as an emerging road safety issue and has been ranked by global road safety authorities , including the World Health Organisation ( WHO ), as a significant contributing factor to road crashes . A distracted driver is a risk not only to themselves , but to their passengers and other road users too . Inattentive driving accounts for nearly 80 % of all crashes and 65 % of near hits . What ’ s more is that just 3 seconds of driver distraction can precede a collision .
The use of mobile phones behind the wheel tops the list as the main cause of driver distraction . This is because a driver will have to take their eyes , mind and ( in some cases ) hands off the task of driving , which in turn increases the likelihood of a crash . Worryingly , a survey showed that 32 % of drivers admit to reading a text message while driving , and 18 % of drivers admit to sending a text message while driving .
18 ISSUE 37 OCTOBER 2022 / WWW . AFMA . ORG . AU