[International consensus meeting on fatigue and the risk of traffic accidents. The significance of fatigue for transportation safety is underestimated]

Abstract

Recently there has been a sizeable increase in research on fatigue and accidents in transportation. Therefore a meeting was convened last year to discuss prevalence, mechanisms and countermeasures, with the intention to produce an international consensus document. It was concluded that official statistics strongly underestimate prevalence, and that a reasonable estimate, based on research, lies between 10 and 20% for accidents on the road, in the air and at sea. The main causes are disturbed sleep and work at the circadian low, caused by night work, morning work, sleep/wake disorders (including sleep apnea) or social obstacles to sleep. Suggested countermeasures include information/education of the public and of transportation companies, as well as enforcement of existing work hour regulation. Additional countermeasures include strategic use of napping and caffeine, as well as implementation of rumble strips and--possibly--electronic devices for drowsiness detection.