Swift helps research
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by Juliet Parish • A leading haulage firm is offering its drivers as guineapigs for research into a syndrome which causes loss of concentration at the wheel.
Swift Transport Services wants to find out why several of its experienced drivers who switched to more unsociable shift patterns seem to have fallen victim to so-called Driving Without Awareness syndrome (DWA).
Although some experts dismiss DWA as mere tiredness, others say the problem is more complex. Drivers have gone into trances, or lost concentration, despite a full night's sleep. The monotony of motorway driving and the cocoon-like comfort of a modern cab are thought to be contributory factors.
DWA can be identified by a realisation by the driver that he has been driving for a while without being aware of steering, changing gear or his surroundings.
Swift Transport Services began looking into the phenomenon after Commercial Motor reported that Devon County Council and Exeter University were raising funds for research into DWA. (CM 14-20 April). "We had a num
ber of incidents in the past two years, where good quality drivers had accidents for no apparent reason," says Swift Transport Services' engineering director Colin Miles. "For example drivers ran into the back of another vehicle."
Exeter University and Devon County Council re-applied this month for a £240,000 Government grant for three years of research into DWA. The university was originally told to come up with evidence that DWA does exist, and to provide an industry sponsor.