Driver fatigue under review

23 September 2010

Work-related road safety is one of the key areas of concern for the UK Department for Transport and driver fatigue is a particularly common cause of work-related road traffic collisions resulting in injury or death. As part of the Department for Transport’s continuing efforts to improve work-related road safety, Clockwork Research has been commissioned to research Fatigue Risk Management Systems (FRMS), a relatively new and potentially advantageous method for managing the risk posed by commercial driver fatigue.

The first part of the project constitutes a review of the academic papers and other relevant literature available on FRMS, including industry reports and regulatory guidance. Part two of the project, reported separately, will involve interviewing regulators, operators and researchers with experience of FRMS in order to learn firsthand about the advantages and disadvantages of FRMS. 

Fatigue-related collisions are particularly prevalent among commercial vehicle drivers because of the extended amount of time they spend on the road, the long hours that are worked and shifts that start at various times of the day and night. The need to manage the fatigue risk posed by commercial drivers is also pressing because work-related road accidents which involve large goods vehicles are much more likely to cause injury and death than collisions involving most other types of vehicles.