The police test for alcohol, they now test for drugs and soon they may test for… being tired! Yes that’s right, they may soon be able to test you, and potentially punish you for being too tired. Driving while fatigued has serious consequences due to the poor concentration and slow reaction times associated with poor sleep. Decreases in cognitive function with sleepiness which have been shown to be similar to that of a high blood alcohol reading. It’s scary to think that 20% of drivers have reported falling asleep driving… 20%
How would or could they even test for fatigue? Well, like drugs and alcohol, there would be a separate mobile facility ready to test drivers who are sleepy at the wheel. Rather than providing a sample of saliva, you would play a video game / driving simulator. There would be equipment used with the driving simulator that tests your reaction times, eye movements, blink speed and blink frequency and then use all of these measurements combined to give an overall fatigue level.
When are they going to do this? It’s hard to tell exactly, there is a research project underway at Austin health that is aiming to develop the technology for the police to use. The transport commission and the police have both thrown their support behind the idea… It may just be a matter of time!
Original article: https://tenplay.com.au/news/national/february-2017/innovative-new-driving-test-for-fatigued-drivers
