Three quarters of South African long-haul truck drivers who participated in a recent survey reported feeling sleepy while driving, because of long working hours, and too little poor quality sleep between trips.
The survey, published in the South African Journal of Science, revealed that the drivers worked for an average of 93 hours per week, almost one third more than the maximum recommended by the Labour Relations Act, with 60% driving in excess of 10 hours per
day.
According to Claudia Maldonado, fatigue expert at Wits
University’s Sleep Laboratory, falling asleep at the wheel has been implicated in a quarter or more road accidents involving heavy vehicles in South Africa, and two out of every three drivers interviewed admitted having fallen asleep while driving their
trucks.
Drivers who admitted nodding off at the wheel also were more likely to have experienced dangerous driving incidents and therefore considered more of an accident risk. Like their colleagues in Australia and Europe, South African drivers are forced into excessive driving by consumer demands, tight delivery
schedules, and badly designed work schedules. In addition, many local drivers drive excessively in order to secure a livable wage. Unlike many of their colleagues overseas, South African drivers do
not have access to adequate truck stop facilities, nor can they stop at the roadside to rest, because the risk of hijacking is too high.
One third survive on less than four hours sleep every night, and those who are able to sleep longer, experience poor and interrupted sleep, which reduces their alertness even at the start of a trip, and increases the risk of them causing a road accident.
Sleepiness and the resultant inattention precipitates road accidents: an alert driver is more likely to avoid a potentially avoidable situation, and sleep-related accidents can be avoided.
Preventing road deaths and injuries, as well as the high economic cost of truck accidents, says Maldonado, will require provision of quiet sleeping accommodation near safe truck stops and rescheduling of trips towards more regular hours of work, to make
sure every South African truck driver gets enough sleep to keep the roads safe for themselves and other motorists. Driving deprived of sleep poses a danger to all road users, including pedestrians. – Sapa