Drowsiness in Truck Drivers

by Allie Mohan

In a study called “The Sleep of Long-Haul Truck Drivers,” to which Gail Baura, PhD contributed, it is stated that “fatigue and sleep deprivation are important safety issues for long-haul truck drivers.” In the study, a sample of truck drivers was monitored for sleep and drowsiness patterns, in hopes that more data can be collected to eventually find a way to lessen the negative effects, like car accidents and lost time on jobs, that occur because of sleep deprivation in drivers.

Brain waves and eye movements can be used to measure sleep, and attempts are being made to create technology that can read these signals and alert drowsy drivers before accidents happen. In an article titled “Drowsiness detector wakes drivers if they start to doze” by Paul Marks, the Fatigue Monitoring System in discussed. This technology consists of an “infrared camera that can see through sunglasses, and an image-processing computer” with a purpose to assess “the frequency, duration and speed of the driver’s blinking to weigh up inattention and the likelihood of imminent ‘microsleeps.’” The system works by waking drivers with a shrill sound and vibration of the driver’s seat.

The idea of this technology is on the right track, and Baura’s study backs that up. According to the study, monitoring the blinking of drivers is a good way to assess drowsiness, but at the same time, it is important to try to avoid any danger of microsleeps. Any drowsiness in drivers is a danger to all those on the road.

Something that both Baura’s study and Marks’s article agrees on is the importance of education on sleep. The study concludes that their “findings underscore the need to educate workers and schedulers about the importance of adequate sleep with respect to public safety” and Marks has a very similar message.

References

            Marks, Paul. “Drowsiness detector wakes drivers if they start to doze.” https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23604-drowsiness-detector-wakes-drivers-if-they-start-to-doze/

            Baura, Gail. “The Sleep of Long-Haul Truck Drivers.”