When seriously sleep deprived, and especially in the hours after midnight and to a lesser extent in the afternoon, when the drive for sleep is strongest, the desire to sleep can be overwhelming and sleep can come almost instantaneously.

Even if we are not in danger of falling asleep, drowsiness, lack of alertness and inattention can all be dangerous, leading to failure to see traffic hazards or be able to avoid them, and contribute to crashes.

So as far as possible, avoid driving when very tired and especially late at night. Most importantly, do not start long trips at the end of a day’s work. On a trip take regular breaks, and at the first sign of drowsiness or erratic driving, pull over and have a break, stretch your legs and have a (non-alcoholic) drink and a light snack. A power nap of 15-20 minutes may have more benefit than a short break.

Simple measures are available to avoid the dangers of fatigue. The most important are:

• Get a good night's sleep before travelling: repay any sleep debt
• Avoid leaving for holidays after work on Friday.  The effect of a full day's work and wakefullness will affect alertness, judgement and anticipation
• Plan the trip to allow for rest breaks
• Take frequent breaks - a break every 2 hours is good practice.
• Know what signs to look for.  Passengers can look for some of these too and alert the driver.
  • wandering in the lane or over lanes
  • changes in speed, especially slowing down wthout reason
  • yawning
  • nodding
  • lapses in concentration

      Finally and very importantly, remember that alcohol is a central nervous system depressant, and that even small amounts of alcohol when you are also fatigued can have an effect on driving performance. Play it safe.

For more information see our full paper on Fatigue and our Policy on Fatigue.  There is also a College Policy on Heavy Vehicle Fatigue.

Lights On: A Key Safety Aid

ACRS in one of its policy statements supports daytime running lights, and suggests that until they become standard on vehicles, drivers use their low beam during daylight.

To reiterate the reasons for doing so, by making the vehicle more visible, lights on can avoid many of the more serious kinds of crashes: head on overtaking crashes, right turn across path crashes, and pedestrian crashes. Although having daytime running lights is thought to be less effective in lower-latitude Australia and New Zealand than in, say Scandinavia, northern Europe and North America, it has been estimated that in Australia they could prevent:

·        between 3% and 11% of non-pedestrian fatal crashes

·        between 4% and 11% of non-pedestrian non-fatal crashes

·        between 4% and 12% of all pedestrian fatalities (Paine 2003).

Low beam headlights, although not as effective as dedicated daytime running lights, will still provide many of these benefits (see the ACRS policy statement for a fuller discussion).

ACRS has resolved to lobby state and territory authorities to encourage campaigns advocating lights on during the day as a priority safety issue. We regard this as an interim measure: the ideal is to have daytime running lights available on motor vehicles as standard, as they are already on many cars in Europe. In not having daytime running lights standard on Australian cars we are in fact accepting inferior safety standards.

Some other issues surrounding the problem:

People may be concerned that having lights on flattens batteries. They don’t, since while the engine is running the alternator is charging and replenishing the battery. However, be careful not to leave your lights on when you leave the car. Many vehicles turn the lights off automatically or have a warning tone

Do not use fog lights as daytime running lights, in fact do not use fog lights at all except in foggy conditions. Their intensity and beam pattern create glare under normal daylight and night ambient light conditions, and result in discomfort and distraction to other road users. Under the Australian Road Rules it is an offence to use rear fog lights except in foggy or reduced visibility conditions. It is also an offence to dazzle other road users with any light in or on the car, and this definitely applies to fog lights.

So don’t use your fog lights except when they are needed for their intended purpose, but for a positive safety benefit, drive with your headlight low beam on during the day.