Min trötta resa

• In order to reduce the number of fatigue related accidents and to identifycountermeasures that will be widely accepted by the drivers, it is necessaryto consider the drivers' point of view. Understanding the drivers'experiences and conception of the dangers due to driver fatigue is necessarywhen trying to find effective actions that stand a good chance of beingaccepted by the drivers. The main objective of this study was to increaseknowledge about what information drivers need to: - recognise the feeling ofbeing fatigued; - realise the danger of driving while fatigued; - encouragefatigued drivers to take a break. A questionnaire was constructed on thebasis of three discussions with focus groups; one with young drivers, onewith professional drivers and one with commuters, and sent out to a randomsample of 3,000 car owners in Sweden. The questionnaires were distributedduring the winter 2002/2003. The response rate was approximately 62 percent.The results indicated that the drivers were aware of the sensation offatigue. Furthermore, the results indicated that drivers underestimated therisk of driving fatigue and overestimated their own ability to manage thesituation. The use of countermeasures differed between the driver groups.Young drivers seem to have a lack of knowledge concerning lastingcountermeasures. They turned on the radio or increased the volume of theradio or asked passengers to talk with them. Older drivers seem to be more infavour of taking a break for a nap. Among the respondents, 55 driversreported that they had been involved in at least one fatigue related accidentduring the last ten years. The difference between drivers who had beeninvolved in a fatigue related accident and those who had not, indicated e.g.that those involved in accidents rated their capability of fighting fatiguewhile driving lower than the others.

Nyckelord

Swedish

Sweden

Fatigue

Prevention

Driver

Behaviour

Method

Questionnaire

Road: Road user behaviour

Road: Road user behaviour

Publikations- och innehållstyp

pop (ämneskategori)

rap (ämneskategori)