Fatigued Driver Statistics0The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

(NHTSA) compiles numerous statistics on driving fatigue accidents.

0Their records indicate that there are more than 55,000 driving fatigue accidents in the U.S. each year.

0Even worse, surveys conducted by the National Sleep Foundation show that 60 percent of Americans admit to driving drowsy.

Fatigued Driver Statistics0Statistics show that both cars and trucks are involved

in their share of driving fatigue accidents, but semi-truck drivers seem to be particularly at risk.

0Due to their long hours and packed schedules, big rig drivers are typically on the road for longer than eight hours at a time, which the National Sleep Foundation finds doubles their risk of a truck accident

Deaths and Injuries Related to Driver Fatigue

0 According to NHTSA figures, driver fatigue kills 1,550 people each year and contributes to 71,000 driver fatigue injuries.

0 The sad fact is that most of these driving fatigue injuries and deaths could have been prevented if the driver had followed a few safety tips at the first signs of fatigue.

0 In particular, experts at DriverFatigueKills.com and the National Sleep Foundation recommend:

0 • Getting a good night’s sleep0 • Taking a 15-minute nap if you get tired0 • Avoiding high-fat meals while driving

Cars0 Many car accidents are also related to driver fatigue.

0 The National Transportation Safety Board estimates that 52 percent of car accidents are caused by driver fatigue.

0 In addition, driving fatigue accidents may account for 30 percent of traffic fatalities.

0 Most traffic safety organizations admit that driver fatigue is an often-overlooked area of traffic safety.

0 While many resources are devoted to drunk driving (which is a significant problem in its own right), driving fatigue gets less attention and fewer resources.

What does fatigue mean?0 Everyone has experienced fatigue at some time.

0 The term is used to describe a range of states or conditions - drowsiness, sleepiness, tiredness, inattention, or exhaustion.

0 Fatigue is the body’s way of reacting to:0 • lack of sleep;0 • doing things like working (or driving) at usual sleep times;0 • long periods of physical or mental exertion; and0 • some medical conditions and medications.

0 Fatigue is a natural reaction to fairly common situations that people experience in their daily lives such as working under constant pressure, parents looking after young children, or young people missing out on sleep due to frequent late night activities.

What does fatigue mean?0While less likely, fatigue can also occur despite having

adequate sleep or being rested. On a car trip this may be due to driving on long stretches of open road and becoming bored through lack of stimulation, the length of time spent at the wheel, and not taking adequate breaks during a long trip.

0There is general agreement that three main factors contribute to fatigue:0 • lack of sleep;0 • time of day; and0 • time spent performing a task.

Lack of Sleep0 Without enough sleep an individual will build up a “sleep

debt”.

0 Sleep debt is the difference between the amount of sleep needed to maintain alertness and performance, and the actual amount of sleep one has.

0 As little as two hours sleep loss on one occasion can affect reaction time, mental functioning, memory, mood and alertness.

0 A build-up of sleep debt has a much greater effect on reducing alertness and performance, especially on tasks that need constant attention such as driving.

Time of Day0 Humans have a sleep-wake cycle, known as the ‘circadian rhythm’

or ‘body clock’.

0 There are two periods during the 24 hour cycle where the level of sleepiness is high: during the night/early morning, and in the afternoon.

0 During these periods of sleepiness, many functions such as alertness, performance and mood are affected.

0 The effect of the circadian rhythm on road crashes has been shown in a number of studies.

0 These indicate that fatigue related crashes correspond to the 24 hour variation in sleepiness, with a major peak during the night and another peak during mid afternoon.

Time Spent on a Task0Long periods of activity without rest lead to muscular

fatigue. In the same way, prolonged mental workloads without rest will lead to reduced alertness and reluctance to continue the effort.

0Studies that have looked at driving tasks show that the length of time on a task affects the quality of performance.

0As more time is spent on a task, the level of fatigue increases, the time to react is slowed, attention and judgment are reduced and the chances of falling asleep during the task are increased.

How does fatigue affect safety?

0A person needs to be alert and focused in order to drive safely for long periods. Fatigue reduces driving skills for a number of reasons:

0 • reactions are much slower;0 • the ability to concentrate is reduced; and0 • it takes longer to interpret and understand the traffic situation.

How does fatigue affect safety?

0Many of the effects are similar to those caused by alcohol.

0Getting behind the wheel after 17 hours without sleep has the same effect on a person’s driving as having a blood alcohol level of 0.05.

0 Further, going without sleep for 24 hours has a similar effect on driving performance as having a blood alcohol concentration of 0.10.

0 At this level the risk of a crash is seven times greater.

How does fatigue affect safety?0The most common effects of fatigue on actual

driving behavior include:0 • difficulty in keeping the car within a lane;0 • drifting off the road;0 • more frequent and unnecessary changes in speed; and0 • not reacting in time to avoid a dangerous situation

(applying the brakes, or turning to avoid an obstacle or fixed roadside object).

0These failures lead to a high number of single vehicle crashes involving the car striking a tree or other rigid object, and severe head-on collisions.

Are some people more likely to be affected?

0 While all drivers can experience fatigue to some degree, fatigue is more likely for people in the following groups, ultimately leading to a higher crash risk:

0 Young People - many young people have lifestyles that involve frequent late night activities, not getting enough sleep, taking risks, and being on the roads during night-time hours.

0 Shift Workers - shift workers are more likely to have disrupted sleep patterns which lead to fatigue more often. Night shift workers have the greatest risk of sleep disruption.

0 People with Sleep Disorders – if left untreated, some conditions such as sleep apnea and insomnia can lead to disrupted sleep on a regular basis. Constantly feeling sleepy can impair the ability to drive safely.

0 Fatigue itself increases crash risk. The risk is much greater with alcohol as even small amounts of alcohol can affect alertness. Fatigue combined with alcohol severely degrades driving skills.

Understanding the Distracted BrainWhy driving while using hands-free cell phones is risky behavior

Motor Vehicle Crashes0No. 1 cause of death

0An estimated 39,000 to 46,000 people killed in crashes every year

0More than 2.2 million injuries from crashes in 2008

Distractions now

join

alcohol and

speeding as

leading factors in

fatal and serious

injury crashes.

Distracted Driving

0Driver distractions leading factor in fatal and serious injury crashes

0In 2008, 28% of all crashes attributable to cell phones01.6 million crashes0645,000 injuries

0Cell phone users 4x as likely to crash

Millions of People are Talking While Driving

011% of drivers at any point during the day are on cell phones

081% of drivers admit to talking on cell phone while driving:074% of Boomers088% of Gen X089% of Gen Y062% of Teen Drivers

Millions of People are Texting While Driving

018% of drivers admit to texting while driving:04% of Boomers015% of Gen X039% of Gen Y036% of Teen Drivers

Driving Culture Change

“A century ago, Model T’s brought motoring to an emerging middle class.

A half century ago, teenagers cuddled in convertibles at drive-in movies.

A new generation of drivers see cars as an extension of their plugged-in lives, with iPods,

DVD players and other gadgets.” USA Today, 2-17-2009

Driving Culture Change

0Webster’s Dictionary named “distracted driving” its 2009 Word of the Year

0In 2009:0More than 200 state bills introduced0U.S. DOT Distracted Driving Summit held0President Obama signed Executive Order0NSC membership survey0Favorable public opinion polls

How Cell Phones Distract

0Visual – Eyes off road

0Mechanical – Hands off wheel

0Cognitive – Mind off driving

CHALLENGE: Drivers don’t understand or realize that talking on a cell phone distracts the brain and takes focus away from the primary task of driving.

The Problem0Hands-free seen as solution and

mistakenly believed to be safer than handheld

0People recognize the risk of talking on handheld and texting more than the risk of hands-free

0Most legislation focuses on only handheld devices or texting

0All state laws and some employer policies allow hands-free devices

Hands-free

devices offer

no safety benefit

when driving.

The Problem0Hands-free seen as solution and

mistakenly believed to be safer than handheld

0People recognize the risk of talking on handheld and texting more than the risk of hands-free

0Most legislation focuses on only handheld devices or texting

0All state laws and some employer policies allow hands-free devices

Hands-free

devices offer

no safety benefit

when driving.

What is a Hands-Free Device?

0Headset that communicates via wire or wireless connection to cell phone

0Factory-installed or aftermarket feature built into vehicle (voice recognition)

Cognitive Distraction

0Cognitive distraction still exists with hands-free0Talking occurs on both handheld and

hands-free cell phones0Mind focuses on conversation0Listen and respond to disembodied voiceHands-free

devices do not

eliminate

cognitive

distraction.

Multitasking: A Brain Drain

0Multitasking for the brain is a myth

0Human brains do not perform two tasks at same time0Brain handles tasks

sequentially0Brain switches between

one task and another The four lobes of the brain.

Source: National Institutes of Health

Multitasking: A Brain DrainBrain engages in a constant process to:

1. Select information brain will attend to2. Process information

3. Encode to create memory

4. Store information

It must also:5. Retrieve6. Execute or act on information

When brain is overloaded these steps are affected

Multitasking: A Brain Drain

Encoding Stage0Brain filters information due to overload0Drivers not aware of information filtered out0 Information does not get into memory0Drivers miss critical information on potential hazards

Inattention blindness and encoding.

Source: National Safety Council

Multitasking: A Brain Drain0Brain juggles tasks, focus and attention

0Brain switches between primary and secondary tasks

0 Inattention blindness0When people do 2 cognitively complex tasks

(driving and using a cell phone), causing brain to shift focus

0Bottleneck0Different regions of brain must pull from a shared

and limited resource for unrelated tasks

Inattention Blindness

0A type of cognitive distraction0“looking” but not “seeing”

0Hands-free drivers less likely to see:0High and low relevant objects0Visual cues0Exits, red lights and stop signs0Navigational signage0Content of objects

Inattention Blindness

Where drivers not using a hands-free cell phone looked.

Where drivers using a hands-free cell phone looked.

Source: Transport Canada

A narrowed scope

Multitasking: Impairs Performance

0Carnegie Mellon University Study (2008)

0Took fMRI pictures of brain while drivers listened to sentences and drove simulator

0Literally see the results…

Driving alone Driving with sentence listening

L R

Functional magnetic resonance imaging images.

Source: Carnegie Mellon University

L R

Multitasking: Impairs Performance

0 Just listening to sentences on cell phones decreased activity by 37% in the brain’s parietal lobe which perceives movement, integrates sensory information and also has importance for language processing

0Listening and language comprehension drew cognitive resources away from driving

0Also decreased activity in brain’s occipital lobe which processes visual information

Multitasking: Impairs Performance

0We can walk and chew gum safely because it is not a cognitively-demanding task

0But even cell phone-using pedestrians act unsafely. They are less likely to:0Look for traffic before stepping into street0Look at traffic while crossing street0Notice unusual objects placed along path

Multitasking: Impairs Performance

0Driving involves a more complex set of tasks than walking:0Visual0Manual0Cognitive0Auditory

0A driver’s job is to watch for hazards, but this cannot be done when brain is overloaded

Cell Phone: Driver Risks

0Inattention blindness

0Slower reaction/response times

0Problems staying in lane

Passenger Conversations

0Adult passengers share awareness of driving situation, a safety benefit

0Front seat passengers reduce risk of crashing by 38% compared to cell phone conversations

0Adults with passengers have lower crash rates than adults without passengers0Not true for novice teen drivers

Prevention Steps

0Widespread education

0Corporate cell phone bans

0Legislation

0Law enforcement

0Technology

More than 1.6 million crashes are caused by cell phone use and texting

while driving each year.

Countless liveshave been lost as a result.

Joe, 12 Bailey, Merideth, Hannah, Sara and Katie

Cady, 16 Erica, 9 Jean and Jay, 58

Linda, 61 Jason, 38 Lauren, 17 Matt, 25 Frances, 13 Jordan, 18

Help us save lives. Tell everyone you know.

On the Road, Off the Phone