State partnership launches drowsy driving Prevention radio campaign--targets shift workers and young drivers: Campaign kicks off during national sleep awareness week, March 1-8

Abstract Introduction Drowsy driving is a common occupational hazard for night shift workers (NSWs). While sleep loss is commonly identified as the primary culprit of drowsy driving, another critical factor to consider is circadian phase. However, the role of circadian phase in driving safety has not been well characterized in NSWs. This study examined if dim light melatonin offset (DLMOff, i.e. the cessation of melatonin secretion) is also a relevant phase marker of susceptibility to four different subtypes of risky on-the-road driving behaviors. Methods On-the-road driving was monitored over 8 weeks via a mobile application that tracked risky driving behaviors using accelerometer and GPS data from cell phones (N=15; 3052 total driving events recorded). Risky driving behaviors included: 1) frequency of hard-braking events, 2) frequency of aggressive-acceleration events, 3) duration of excessive-speeding, and 4) duration of phone-usage. At week 2, participants spent 24 hours in-lab where hourly saliva samples were collected and assayed for melatonin, and DLMOff was calculated. Phase angle of driving events relative to DLMOff was used as the predictor in nested mixed-effects regressions, with risky driving behaviors as the outcome variables. Results The most common occurrences of risky driving were phone-usage and hard-braking. On average, NSWs had 46.7% and 42.0% of driving events with at least one occurrence of phone-usage and hard-braking, respectively. Rates of aggressive-acceleration and speeding were 24.4% and 20.4%. Positive phase angles (i.e. driving after DLMOff) were associated with reduced rates of hard-braking and aggressive-acceleration, but not of phone-usage and excessive-speeding. Specifically, rates of hard-braking and aggressive-acceleration decreased by 4.5% (p<.01) and 3.4% (p=.05) every two hours following DLMOff, respectively. Conclusion The study suggests DLMOff appears to be an important variable for predicting accident risk in NSWs. If replicated, circadian phase should be considered in recommendations to increase occupational health and safety of NSWs. Support Support for this study was provided to PC by NHLBI (K23HL138166).

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Young Drivers and the Risk for Drowsy Driving

JAMA Pediatrics ◽

10.1001/jamapediatrics.2013.2456 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 167 (7) ◽

pp. 606 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Beth E. Ebel

Keyword(s):

Drowsy Driving ◽

Young Drivers

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Police drowsy driving: predicting fatigue-related performance decay

Policing An International Journal of Police Strategies and Management ◽

10.1108/pijpsm-03-2015-0033 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 38 (3) ◽

pp. 517-538 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Stephen M. James ◽

Bryan Vila

Keyword(s):

Risk Factor ◽

Reaction Time ◽

Laboratory Experiments ◽

Driving Performance ◽

Drowsy Driving ◽

Shift Workers ◽

Content Type ◽

Work Cycle ◽

The Impact ◽

Post Shift

Purpose – Fatigue associated with shift work is a well-established and pervasive problem in policing that affects officer performance, safety, and health. It is critical to understand the extent to which fatigue degrades officer driving performance. Drowsy driving among post-shift workers is a well-established risk factor yet no data are available about officer injuries and deaths due to drowsy driving. The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of fatigue associated with work shift and prior sleep on officers’ non-operational driving using laboratory experiments to assess post-shift drowsy driving risks and the ability of a well-validated vigilance and reaction-time task to assess these risks. Design/methodology/approach – Experienced police patrol officer volunteers (n=78) from all four shifts of a medium-sized city’s police department were tested using a within- and between-subjects design to assess the impact of fatigue on individual officers, as well as the impact of different work shifts, on post-shift driving performance. Controlled laboratory experiments were conducted during which participants drove high-fidelity driving training simulators on two occasions: immediately following five consecutive 10:40-hour patrol shifts (fatigued condition) and again 72 hours after completing the last shift in a work cycle (rested condition). Findings – Generalized linear mixed-model analyses of driving performance showed that officers working night shifts had significantly greater lane deviation during post-shift, non-operational driving than those working day shifts (F=4.40, df=1, 150, p=0.038). The same method also showed that easy to measure psychomotor vigilance test scores for reaction time predicted both lane deviation (F=31.48, df=1, 151, p < 0.001) and collisions (F=14.10, df=1, 151, p < 0.001) during the simulated drives. Research limitations/implications – Simulated driving tasks done by participants were generally less challenging than patrol or off-duty driving and likely underestimate the impact of fatigue on police driving post-shift or during extended shifts. Originality/value – This is the first experimental research to assess the impact of shiftwork, fatigue, and extended shifts on police post-shift drowsy driving, a known risk factor for shift workers in general.

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