How to prevent accidents due to driver fatigue

Summary

The blog provides a list of tips and strategies to help people avoid driver fatigue, a leading cause of road accidents. It explains the common reasons for driver fatigue, the usual hours when it occurs, and its impact on driving. The article suggests measures to overcome fatigue while driving, including getting enough sleep, taking breaks, avoiding alcohol, and sharing driving responsibilities. 

Additionally, it recommends using GPS fleet management systems that can monitor drivers’ behavior and identify potential fatigue-related issues. The article also introduces VAMOSYS, a company that provides GPS tracking and fleet management solutions to optimize business activities.

The Common Reason

Driver fatigue is a significant issue that every year leads to several thousands of road accidents. The exact number of sleep-related crashes can not be determined, but the study demonstrates that driver fatigue can contribute to up to 20% of road crashes and up to one-quarter of fatal and severe accidents. These kinds of accidents are about 50% more probable to result in death or severe injury as they tend to be high-speed accidents because a rider who has fallen asleep is unable to brake or maneuver to prevent or decrease the effect.

Sleepiness decreases reaction time (a critical component for drivers). It also decreases vigilance, alertness, and concentration to impair the capacity to carry out awareness-based actions (such as driving). Sleepiness also reduces the pace with which information is transmitted. It also affects the quality of decision-making. This is one of the major concerns in the fleet management business.

It is evident that drivers/riders are aware when they feel sleepy and therefore make a conscious choice as to whether to continue driving or stop for a rest. Those who persist in driving may underestimate the danger that they will fall asleep while driving. Or some drivers may choose to overlook the hazards (like drivers who consume alcohol).

The Usual Hours

The most likely occurrence of crashes caused by tired drivers is lengthy journeys and monotonous highways, such as freeways from 2 am to 6 am.

  • From 2 pm to 4 pm (particularly after eating or even taking one alcoholic beverage).
  • Having less than ordinary sleep.
  • After the consumption of alcohol.
  • If you take drowsiness-causing medications.
  • After long hours of work or long trips back, particularly during night shifts.

AVOIDING DRIVER FATIGUE 

In more than 20 percent of road deaths, Dizzy driving is suspected to be the main cause. Most fatigue-related accidents happen during ordinary sleeping hours, and the more serious the accident, the greater the likelihood of fatigue on the driver or driver. In nearly one-third of single-vehicle accidents in rural regions, fatigue is a probable factor.

Many individuals believe that fatigue is only an issue for long-distance riders, but it is equally important for short-distance drives. People are not usually tired of driving. They are usually already exhausted when they get long hours behind the wheel, shift work, sleeplessness, sleep apnoea, or physically demanding tasks.

The need to sleep can not be fought by your body. Chemical compounds build up to a tipping point in your brain and you’ll fall asleep.

Cause:

  • Drowsy driving is due to the shortage of quality sleep.
  • Driving (overnight) when you are usually sleeping.
  • Sleep problems like sleep apnoea, which causes a sleeping disorder. All-day long tiredness.Remember that you can’t fight sleep for long.

Symptoms:

Fatigue can be easily detected, including common symptoms such as yawning.

  • Eyes that are sore or heavy.
  • The response times are slower.
  • Finding you’re dreaming about the day and not focusing on driving.
  • The speed of riding creeps up or down.
  • An impaired driving performance like bad equipment modifications.
  • Rigidity and cramps.
  • Impatience.
  • Reduced motivation.

How exhaustion affects your driving?

Fatigue has an enormous impact on your driving and therefore can affect your capacity to drive safely, comparable to the driving effect. Research demonstrates that being awake for 17 hours has the same effect as a BAC (blood alcohol concentration) of 0.05 on your driving capacity. Going out for 24 hours without sleep has the same effect as a 0.1 BAC, doubling the legal limit.

  • Driving while tired or tired can lead to a lack of concentration.
  • Slower response times.
  • Mistakes in calculating velocity and distance are commonly decreased vigilance and bad judgment nodding–even for a few seconds can lead to serious effects.

How to overcome fatigue during driving hours?

Sleeping is the only way to cope with fatigue. To avoid fatigue, choose not to drive when tired or follow these rules:

  • Get a good night’s sleep before going off on a lengthy journey.
  • Do not travel more than 8-10 hours a day.
  • Take frequent breaks–every two hours at least.
  • Wherever necessary, share the driving.
  • Before your journey, do not drink alcohol. Even a tiny quantity can add considerably to the fatigue of the driver.
  • Do not travel when you would normally sleep.
  • Take a power nap of 15 minutes if you feel sleepy.

GPS Fleet Management 

However, the inexpensive yet effective solution would be a GPS fleet management system. The extended branches of GPS fleet management offers the driver behavior management and driver monitoring systems, which help in the precise movement of the vehicle and thus the driver behavior which helps in identifying and ruling out any potential accidents.

Driving behavior monitor metrics like:

  • Speeding
  • Hard acceleration or braking
  • Sharp cornering
  • Fast lane changes
  • Off-road driving
  • Other dangerous maneuvers

The systems recognize under-performance regions that contribute to crashes, provide driver updates, and transmit database reports. Reporting functionality may differ significantly based on customer requirements, but the primary characteristics are generally:

  • Fuel reports
  • Route reports
  • Accident detection
  • Driver behavior statistics
  • Mileage reports
  • Vehicle information
  • speeding reports

All those data can help you in spotting the driver’s fatigue status or potential fatigue, in case the driver works more than the allotted time.

VAMOSYS provides GPS Vehicle Tracking, Fleet Monitoring, Fleet Management, Fuel Management Solutions, and Telematics company services. VAMOSYS helps you optimize your company GPS tracking activities while you focus on your company’s development!

Avatar of Team VAMOSYS

Team VAMOSYS have been into GPS business since 2014 and have good experience on GPS Vehicle Tracking, Fuel Monitoring, Fleet Management and GPS Tracker Devices. Writes article on various topics to share the industry experiences and knowledge.

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