Brian C Tefft recently published a paper in the Journal of Sleep to help quantify the relationship between acute sleep deprivation and culpable involvement in motor vehicle crashes.
Methods: Participants were 6845 drivers involved in a representative sample of crashes investigated by the US Department of Transportation in years 2005–2007. A modified case–control study design was used to compare self-reported hours of sleep in the 24 hr before crashing between drivers deemed culpable versus nonculpable. Analyses controlled for fatigue-related, driver-related, and environmental factors. Specific errors that led to crashes were also examined.
Results: Drivers who reported having slept for less than 4 hr in the 24 hr before crashing had 15.1 (95% confidence interval [CI] 4.2 to 54.4) times the odds, respectively, of having been culpable for their crashes, compared with drivers who reported 7–9 hr of sleep. Drivers who had slept less than 4 hr had 3.4 (95% CI = 2.1 to 5.6) times the increase in odds of culpable involvement in single-vehicle crashes compared with multiple-vehicle crashes. Recent change in sleep schedule, typically feeling drowsy upon waking, and driving for 3+ hr were also associated with culpability (all p ≤ 0.013). Assuming nonculpable drivers comprised a representative sample of all drivers present where crashes occurred, these odds ratios approximate incidence rate ratios for culpable crash involvement per unit of time driving.
Conclusions: Driving after having slept less than 7 hr in a 24 hr period is associated with elevated risk of culpable crash involvement. Risk is greatest for drivers who have slept less than 4 hr and is manifested disproportionately in single-vehicle crashes.
For more information on the fitness to drive in Australia follow this link:
https://www.qld.gov.au/transport/licensing/update/medical
Citation: Brian C Tefft; Acute sleep deprivation and culpable motor vehicle crash involvement, Sleep, , zsy144, https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsy144
