Road safety charity Brake and Direct Line today reveal more than half of drivers (55%) are ignoring basic advice to take rest breaks at least every two hours on long journeys, while one in ten (9%) don't stop at all on long journeys unless they absolutely have to.
Many also admit failing to get enough sleep the night before a long journey, as less than half (45%) make sure they get at least seven hours' sleep.
Brake and Direct Line are warning families gearing up for long holiday journeys that too little sleep and too few breaks radically affects your ability to drive safely.
After five hours' sleep you only have a one in ten chance of staying fully awake on a lengthy journey.
The survey of 1,000 drivers from across the UK by Brake and Direct Line showed widespread complacency about the risks of tired drivers on long journeys.
It found:
- Male drivers are far more likely to drive for longer periods without stopping
- 14% of male drivers have driven for six hours or more without stopping, compared with 3% of female drivers.
- Half of male drivers (50%) have driven for four hours or more without stopping, compared with a third (31%) of females.
- A third of drivers (35%) admit sometimes or always trying to push on if they feel sleepy at the wheel. 38% of males do this compared to 31% of females.
Julie Townsend, deputy chief executive, Brake, the road safety charity, said:
"A large proportion of the driving public are scarily confident they can push on through on long drives without stopping.
In reality, regular breaks – at least every two hours – are essential for staying alert and awake, as is getting plenty of sleep the night before.
"Sleepiness can catch you unawares at the wheel and it only takes a couple of seconds on a motorway to cause absolute carnage.
The summer means long journeys for many families hoping to catch some sun at the coast or abroad. Brake is warning that to make sure you and your loved ones get there safely you need to allow plenty of time to take it easy, take regular rest breaks, and ensure you get a full night's sleep beforehand."
Rob Miles, head of Motor at Direct Line, commented:
"Tiredness and driving are a deadly combination. Not only is there a risk of falling asleep at the wheel, but when we are tired our reactions and awareness of our surroundings are not as sharp as they would normally be.
Whilst tired drivers may think that stopping for a break will increase their journey time, it's not worth the risk to themselves, their passengers or other road users. It is better to get there late than not to arrive at all."
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The facts
Driver tiredness is one of the biggest killers on our roads. In the UK driver tiredness is estimated to cause one in five deaths on trunk roads. In 2011 in Great Britain it was reported 84 people were killed and 420 suffered serious injuries in tiredness related crashes, although the real figure could be higher, because it can be difficult to prove when a crash is caused by a driver falling asleep. They tend to be high-speed crashes, because drivers do not brake before crashing, so the risk of death or serious injury is greater.
Calls to government
Brake supports recent government proposals to allow drivers who oversleep at motorway service stations to pay for their parking retrospectively to avoid a fine.
But it calls for more to be done to help drivers by creating more stopping places for drivers to take a break and more government advertising on the risks of driving tired, raising awareness about the importance of not embarking on a journey while tired, and steps to take if you start to feel drowsy at the wheel. We also need greater crash protection on trunk roads, such as longer crash barriers over bridges, to reduce the severity of crashes if they do happen.
Action to tackle tired driving among fleet drivers is also needed because an estimated four in ten tired driver crashes involves a commercial vehicle driver. Brake recommends regular testing of people who drive for work for sleep apnoea, a treatable condition that makes falling asleep at the wheel much more likely, thought to be particularly widespread among HGV drivers. Brake also believes the rules controlling hours that can be driven by truck and bus drivers should be extended to cover fleet drivers in vans and cars.
