A new hard-hitting road safety campaign targeting drowsy drivers is backed by research showing drivers are four times more likely to crash if they’ve had less than five hours’ sleep.
The campaign ‘Driving tired? Wake up to yourself’, launched by the Victorian Government and Transport Accident Commission (TAC), reminds drivers that being tired behind the wheel not only makes them a danger to themselves, but a danger to everyone on the roads.
Central to the campaign is a confronting new television ad showing a serious crash caused by a tired driver crashing into another car with a mother and her young daughter.
Tired drivers contribute 16-20 per cent of fatal crashes on Victorian roads each year, while accounting for approximately 25 per cent of road trauma injuries at The Alfred and Royal Melbourne hospitals.
The campaign is backed by research by Monash University and the TAC, which found participants in an impaired driving assessment track trial were four times more likely to crash if they had only four-to-five hours’ sleep.
A second study found most respondents understood the risks of driving while tired and could identify the signs and symptoms, while young men reported a greater risk of falling asleep at the wheel.
The campaign comes as this year’s Victorian road toll surpasses 100 – a total of 106 people have lost their lives on the state’s roads in 2024.
