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Brake calls for a blitz on fatigue

19th February 2004
Page 6
Page 6, 19th February 2004 — Brake calls for a blitz on fatigue
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A Brake survey has found nearly half of all drivers are sometimes seriously tired behind the wheel — it wants the government to act. Guy Sheppard reports.

NEARLY 50% OF ALL drivers admit to driving while seriously tired, according to the road safety campaign group Brake.

A recent survey of 1,000 drivers and motorcyclists found that one in 10 drive after less than five hours sleep at least once a month and 45% admit to doing so at least once a year.

Research by Loughborough University's sleep research centre shows that drivers' chances of staying fully awake on long journeys is extremely limited if their sleep the previous night was limited to five hours.

Professor Jim Home, head of the sleep research centre, says: "If these drivers realised that by driving while tired they are just as impaired as if they were well over the legal drink-drive alcohol limit they might have second thoughts."

Publication of the research coincides with the launch of a government radio advertising campaign warning against tired driving. But Brake says it needs to do more, including: • Recruiting more traffic examiners to conduct roadside checks on tachograph records • Creating French-style rest areas on motorways • Erecting continuous crash barriers on motorways and dualcarriageways to prevent sleeping drivers crossing over and colliding with on-coming traffic.

Last week an inquest in Colchester heard how agency truck driver Anthony Lloyd died after completing a night shift when his car collided with an on-coming van. The accident happened on the B1025 south of Colchester in June last year.

Police accident investigator PC David Howard says: -Lloyd had been on duty overnight and was driving his own vehicle from the works' premises.

Lloyd suffered from obstructive sleep apnoea, a condition that leaves sufferers prone to falling sleep without warning. However. the coroner recorded a verdict of accidental death, saying it was unclear whether the condition was responsible for the accident.


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