RSA's Driver Fatigue Campaign

PhoenixRising

Saw this on the news this evening, that the Road Safety Authority says that up to 20% of fatal road accidents may be linked to driver fatigue. They've launched a campaign to highlight the dangers and to tell drivers what to do if they feel fatigued while driving. It's a serious issue and I don't doubt that in at least 20% of road accidents driver fatigue was a factor, but I had to laugh at the RSA's recommendations for a driver who feels fatigued. They are:

1) Pull Over.
2) Take a 15 minute nap on the side of the road.
3) Drink 2 cups of coffee.
4) Get out of your car and take a brisk walk around it a few times.
5) Get back into your car and continue on your journey.

How's about just highlighting the dangers and advising people to avoid driving if they feel fatigued.., rather than issue this comical advice. I had to check it wasn't the 1st of April..:D

Capt'n Midnight

With commuting times and distances increasing and people leaving earlier to beat the rush and get parking there has to be a knock on effect on driver tiredness.

nachos

PhoenixRising wrote:

Saw this on the news this evening, that the Road Safety Authority says that up to 20% of fatal road accidents may be linked to driver fatigue. They've launched a campaign to highlight the dangers and to tell drivers what to do if they feel fatigued while driving. It's a serious issue and I don't doubt that in at least 20% of road accidents driver fatigue was a factor, but I had to laugh at the RSA's recommendations for a driver who feels fatigued. They are:

1) Pull Over.
2) Take a 15 minute nap on the side of the road.
3) Drink 2 cups of coffee.
4) Get out of your car and take a brisk walk around it a few times.
5) Get back into your car and continue on your journey.

How's about just highlighting the dangers and advising people to avoid driving if they feel fatigued.., rather than issue this comical advice. I had to check it wasn't the 1st of April..:D

Agreed. Absolutely ridiculous stuff.
Drink 2 cups of coffee, I mean wtf?! Where did they get this figure from? Did they do some tests and discover that one cup wasn't enough but three was too many? Where are these cups of coffee coming from?

Maybe not the best idea to be doing a few laps around your car at the side of a road. Especially not a good idea on a motorway at night.

Driver fatigue is a serious issue and should be highlighted, but to provide such farcical overshadows their whole point

unklerosco

Used to drive trucks for a living, early morning starts.. 3-4am... sometimes only getting 3 hrs sleep the night before. Their advice is poop... I've drank a 6 pack of red bull and i still had to pull over n take a kip... Getting sleep is the only way to beat it, even then u end up waking up feeling drowsy.. I always had about 30 mins(depending on how late i was kip, a cold drink n a small snack n id feel grand..

Had a few near miss's when i was younger, never again.. Scares the hell out of u when u fall asleep behind the wheel.....

Rovi

At least it's a change from the old "Speed kills, m'kay?" mantra.

leeroybrown

I think that with these kinds of suggestions it's important to differentiate between mild fatigue and the kind of serious fatigue where you actually need to sleep. These suggestions would probably be helpful where someone is having their concentration affected slightly by fatigue as opposed to someone who is getting sleepy.

I'm reminded of a delivery van driver I used to get lifts with. He worked a normal day shift and occasionally when I'd get a lift in the evening he would pull in off the road to rest his eyes. If he noticed his concentration slipping due to fatigue (normally in boring 50mph traffic) he would make a point of pulling in and taking a short rest.

overdriver

Maybe this advice is aimed at the folk who normally won't pull in and take a nap? I don't hink it's bad advice if you're a little weary. It just breaks up the journey alittle to do what they say - and I HAVE done it.

If you're knackered, you have to pull in and kip. Simple. But I've never found that 15 minutes works for me. I have to just sleep and wake up when I do.


As for walking around your car, obviously you have to do it soemwhere safe or if the road's quiet.

Seth Brundle

Where exactly do you pull over?
e.g. heading from Dublin to Belfast, where along the way (in the Republic) is safe to pull over and get some sleep?

maidhc

kbannon wrote:

Where exactly do you pull over?
e.g. heading from Dublin to Belfast, where along the way (in the Republic) is safe to pull over and get some sleep?

At a motorway stop obviously! Where else?

I think their advise is ok. By the time you have taken a quick sleep and a bit of a walk the coffee will start to kick in. It is wiser than trying to stay awake while driving anyway (I'm guilty as charged).

zilog_jones

I've noticed ads on Today FM a few times this evening, listing these recommendations inbetween someone talking about his brother who was killed while asleep at the wheel, and saying how it's just as bad as driving over the limit of alcohol blood levels.