Driver Fatigue and Distraction CountermeasuresHamish Mackie

What is driver fatigue and distraction?

‘Fatigue is a physiological condition that can occur long before you fall asleep at the wheel. It has a negative impact on your reaction time, your ability to concentrate and your general understanding of the road and traffic around you.’

(National Road Safety Committee)

‘Distraction involves the diversion of attention from driving , because the driver is temporarily focused on an object, person,  task, or event not related to driving, which reduces the drivers’ awareness, decision‐making and/or performance, leading to an increased risk of corrective actions, near‐crashes, or crashes

(Hedland, 2005)

How big is the problem?

13% of fatalities: Ministry of Transport

20% of all crashes overseas (Jackson et al, 2011)

Fatigue

Distraction

20‐30%of all crashes, overseas estimate

10%of all crashes coded with distraction

Sleep Restriction

What causes driver fatigue?

Body clock effects

Driving duration and monotony

Individual factors

Vehicle

What causes driver distraction?

Brought into the vehicle

Internal

Signs, roadside etc

The Research – What do we know?

‐ We know what it is, how/when it happens etc‐ We willingly drive when fatigued and distracted‐ Individual differences are important‐ We don’t really know what to do with either‐ Might get worse before it gets better‐ Commercial drivers a stand‐out group

Fatigue CountermeasuresIn VehicleDriver focussedRoad infrastructure

Fatigue: In vehicle solutions

Vehicle performance Fatigue detection

Situation alerts

Fatigue: Driver solutionsFRMSHours of workDriver health and wellnessSleep duration / qualityDriver messagingReadiness to perform technologies

Work (14-15 hours, incl breaks and commuting)

Sleep(8 hours)

Life: exercise, eating recreation, chores, family, community(2 hours!!!?)

Fatigue Risk Management systems (FRMS)

Fatigue: Driver solutionsFRMSHours of workDriver health and wellnessSleep duration / qualityDriver messagingReadiness to perform technologies

Fatigue - CPAP

Continuous Positive Airway Pressure

Fatigue: Driver solutionsFRMSHours of workDriver health and wellnessSleep duration / qualityDriver messagingReadiness to perform technologies

Fatigue: Road solutions

Road infrastructure

Distraction Countermeasures

Legislation and enforcement

Cognitive skills training at driver licensing

Corporate leadership

Technology e.g. Volvo intelligent driver information system (IDIS) and Driver Alert Control (DAC)

Volvocars.com

Distraction: Road solutions

Road infrastructure

A brief history of ATP research in NZ

Baas, Charlton, deJong (2004) – Review, rumble strips Ave 32% crash reduction

Benefit cost calculator Mackie and Baas (2007) – BCR typically 4‐8 , estimated 25% crash reduction

James (2011) – ATP high severity crash reduction of 28% (cf natural reduction of 6%)

Dravitzki et al. – sound/vibration responses, cyclists, motorcyclistsCharlton (2007), Mackie (2009) – lane keeping responsesMackie et al. (2009) ‐ ATP performanceMackie (2009) – ATP contracts

Current issues, removal, reinstatement

Summary• Research mostly still focuses on defining the driving fatigue and distraction problem

• Exciting technology is just around the corner (10 years?)

• Preventing fatigued and distracted driving will take a long time (but could do a lot for commercial drivers now)

• Mitigation is immediate solution

• Road infrastructure best bet for now

SummaryRoad infrastructure

Commercial operator initiatives

Driver/vehicle technology

Advertising and awareness

Societal norms

Now Med term

My proposed Fatigue and Distraction countermeasure plan (not necessarily view of any one else)

Commercial operator norms

Safe roads and roadsides

Widespread uptake of technology

Long term