CRASHES AND FATALITIES RELATED TO DRIVER DROWSINESS/FATIGUE

This report summarizes recent national statistics on the incidence and characteristics of crashes involving driver fatigue, drowsiness, or "asleep-at-the-wheel". For the purposes of this report, these terms are considered synonymous. Principal data sources are the NHTSA General Estimates System (GES) and the Fatal Accident Reporting System (FARS), although these data files are acknowledged to have limitations for quantifying this type of crash causal factor. Most data provided are for the five-year period 1989-93. Findings from other studies of the incidence of drowsiness/fatigue in crashes are reviewed. Finally, overviews are provided of NHTSA programs underway to help provide better data to assess this traffic safety problem and, more importantly, to develop effective countermeasures.

• Corporate Authors:

  National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

  Office of Crash Avoidance Research, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Knipling, R R
  • Wang, J-S
• Publication Date: 1994-11

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 8 p.
• Serial:
  • Research Note
  • Publisher: National Center for Statistics and Analysis

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Countermeasures; Crash data; Crashes; Drivers; Drowsiness; Fatigue (Physiological condition); Statistics; Technological innovations
• Identifier Terms: Fatal Accident Reporting System; General Estimates System
• Old TRIS Terms: Asleep-at-the-wheel
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I81: Accident Statistics; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00674250
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Feb 8 1995 12:00AM