The University of Adelaide CENTRE FOR AUTOMOTIVE SAFETY RESEARCH

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TitleIdentifying the contribution of fatigue to injury crashes
AuthorsWundersitz LN, Thompson JP
Year2024
TypeUnknown
AbstractFatigue is widely recognised as an important factor contributing to road crash risk but estimates of its involvement in crashes varies considerably. This study examines the contribution of fatigue to police-reported injury crashes and investigates whether these data capture the true contribution of fatigue. Analyses indicated that the injury crash data under-represented fatigue by 37% in fatal crashes and 6% in injury crashes (at a minimum). To guide investment in driver fatigue measures, the characteristics of these crashes and road users were investigated. Fatigue crashes were predominantly on roads with high-speed limits, in regional areas, occurred at midblock locations and were single vehicle crashes. They occurred most frequently in the afternoon and in the early morning hours. Fatigued road users were 2.4 times more likely than non-fatigued road users to test positive for an illicit drug. Suggestions were made to improve the ongoing identification and reporting of fatigue crashes.
Conference Name2024 Australasian Road Safety Conference
Conference AbbreviationARSC24
Conference LocationHobart, Tasmania, Australia
Conference Date30 September-3 October
Page Range564-566
NotesAvailable in chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://australasianroadsafetyconference.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/ARSC2024-Proceedings-compressed.pdf

Reference
Wundersitz LN, Thompson JP (2024). Identifying the contribution of fatigue to injury crashes. 2024 Australasian Road Safety Conference, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, 30 September-3 October. [PRESENTED ABSTRACT]