Sleep deprivation and driving

MorningStar

On another thread I brought up the subject of driving and lack of sleep as extremely dangerous. I was really surprised as people just simply didn't think it was that bad a thing. Not talking about just one night of sleeplessness but constant lack of sleep. I know this would effect a lot of new parents but I feel it is still dangerous. Am I really the only one who believes in the dangers?

http://archives.cnn.com/2000/HEALTH/09/20/sleep.deprivation/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/selby/story/0,7369,609756,00.html

mike65

Neither of those urls work.

This is of the top of my head but I vaguly recall a report which said more ppl are killed as a result of fatigue than drink-driving in the UK as more ppl spend more hours behind the wheel be it as commuters or professional drivers.

Parents to young children must be at additonal risk, my sister was a bit of a zombie after she returned to work, luckily her hours changed slightly
so she was'nt up so early as before but she was definitly fatigued.

Mike.

Sherifu

The one time i drove after being up all night, I didn't feel too good.
It can't be safe.
The response times are bad.

Tobias Greeshman

Fifth Gear had a little experiement, where they got two presenters (Tiff Needell and Quinten wilson), got one drunk and one deprived of sleep. The person deprived of sleep drove much more dangerous, so go figure.

Alun

Actually they found that this was only the case during simulated motorway driving. For simulated city driving, the drunk driver was the more dangerous.

MorningStar

sorry

http://archives.cnn.com/2000/HEALTH/09/20/sleep.deprivation/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/selby/story/0,7369,609756,00.html

I saw that top gear too.

BrianD

Fell asleep at the wheel once when I had only been driving for a short while. Went to an all night party - wasn't drinking - was driving along the N3 when I must have dozed off for a few seconds. Was a sunday morning, woke up on the wrong side of road looked in mirror and had just missed a car. Thankfully I stayed on the road. A wake up call to say the least. Even the relatively short inter-city trips in Ireland (as compares with Europe, USA etc) can be tiring and the "Stop, Revive, Survive" advice is worth heeding.

landser

I think that driving while tired is proven to be bad, and there are already laws in place to prevent truckers etc driving more than 4 hours for this specific reason.

asking if it is dangerous to drive when tired is about as pointless as asking if it's dangerous to put a loaded gun to you head and pull the trigger...

Sysiphus

I live in Meath and commute every day, most weekends too. I don't have a fixed location as my job brings me to different client sites, as a result I rarely do less than 120 miles a day, I also suffer from insomnia (thanks mam!). Lack of sleep is certainly very dangerous. On more than one occasian I had the heavey head nod, and caught myself in time, open the windows / sunroof, radio on loud (or pull over if there was a safe place - generaly not on most of the roads). That was until a few weeks ago, when I crashed, no injuries, but managed to write of my car and the other car as well. I don't know what happened, but one minute I'm driving, next minute I'm stopped, and buried in the side of a parked car. Can only assume that heavey head struck again.

So, yes, fatigue is extremley dangerous.

MorningStar

People seem to agree that it's dangerous but what would be a valid reason to drving in a continual situation where you have a lack of sleep? I can't really see any but I have people complaining it is acceptable under certain situations.

LFCFan

it's very easy to nod off if you're driving on a long stretch with little or now divergance (rare enough on Irish roads). You can tell yourself to stay awake but it's like sitting at home with a beer in your hand and one minute you're enjoying a movie and having a drink and the next it's an hour later, your lap is covered in beer and the movie is over. Sometimes if your brains wants sleep, it's gonna get it whether you like it or not. Moral of the story - If you're knackered, don't drive!!

Eurorunner

MorningStar wrote:

People seem to agree that it's dangerous but what would be a valid reason to drving in a continual situation where you have a lack of sleep? I can't really see any but I have people complaining it is acceptable under certain situations.

There is one...coming off 12 hr. nightshift - for a one hour commute home. OK for most of the time, but when its bad, its very freakin bad. Yes, you can pull in , but you could wake up a few hours later - by which time, its nearly time to be getting ready to go back in to work...

LFCFan

Eurorunner wrote:

There is one...coming off 12 hr. nightshift - for a one hour commute home. OK for most of the time, but when its bad, its very freakin bad. Yes, you can pull in , but you could wake up a few hours later - by which time, its nearly time to be getting ready to go back in to work...

in fairness, if you're job puts you in this situation it's time to find a new job

MorningStar

LFCFan wrote:

in fairness, if you're job puts you in this situation it's time to find a new job

It's a valid point and really needs to be done.

The point that I was arguing about was about a family driving to special needs education and care for their children. Drive was about 2 hours long and the parents were only getting 4-6 hours sleep a night.
Sensitive issue and I argued it is still irresponsible for them to drive regardless of why. I now feel like heartless monster as I was barraged with they have no choice blah blah... Does the reason matter to everybodies safety ?

cyclopath2001

LFCFan wrote:

in fairness, if you're job puts you in this situation it's time to find a new job

In France, I think an employer can be found culpable in the event of a road accident involving an employee, if it can be proven that the working conditions were a contributory factor.