With regional travel restrictions having been relaxed from the 18 May 2020, the South West RoadWise "Don't Trust Your Tired Self" driver fatigue project was initiated through a promotion at The Crooked Carrot Caf on Forrest Highway Myalup, on Saturday 23 May 2020.
The Road Safety Commission grant funded project is a collaboration with 16 Local Governments in the South West and coordinated by RoadWise groups via City of Bunbury, City of Busselton, and Shire of Dardanup.
Drivers travelling down south or up to Perth can stop and take a break and receive a free coffee or tea along with a reusable travel mug and an information flier on driver fatigue from several service stations including BP Manjimup. The regional project is encouraging drivers to also participate in an online survey to raise their awareness, test their knowledge and tell us their attitude toward driver fatigue, the survey can be found at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/swdriverfatigue
The project will continue to be promoted in the South West region until mid-December 2020. Participants that complete both the pre and post online survey will go in the draw to win one of two $100 vouchers from the Bunbury Farmers Market drawn just before Christmas.
Shire President Paul Omodei said "A driver who has been awake for 17-19 hours had the same driving ability as an individual with a blood-alcohol level of 0.05%. While stopping every 2 hours for a break, swapping drivers and taking a 20 minute power nap are all good tips to avoid driver fatigue, the only way to prevent fatigue is to get enough sleep."
In recent years, the WA Government have been successful in achieving results to lower the incidents of risk-taking behaviours such as drink or drug related driving and speeding, however, in the same time, there has been a 21% increase in fatigue related serious crashes. It is very difficult to quantify with a reasonable degree of precision the incidents of fatigue in serious road crashes, however, latest statistics indicate that around 70% of all crashes that result in death or serious injury involve poor decision making, distraction or inattention that are all symptoms of fatigue.
This driver fatigue project is funded by a project grant from the Road Safety Commission via the Western Australian State Government Community Road Safety Grants Program. Other locations in the South West region interested in promoting the campaign and offering the cups and fliers can contact Nicky Smith the WALGA RoadWise, Road Safety Advisor South West on nsmith@walga.asn.au
