Driver fatigue kills 400 Canadians annually

Driver fatigue kills more than 400 Canadians ever year, a Highway Safety Roundtable reports.
One in five drivers surveyed in Drowsy Driving, a 2004 Traffic Injury Research Foundation survey of 1,209 Canadians, reported nodding off at least once in the last 12 months, the report points out.
At this time, only collisions where the driver was asleep are recognized as fatigue-related collisions. However, if the criteria were expanded to include drowsy driving, the following was found, according to the report:
In 2004, 17.8% of all fatal crashes and 25.5% of crashes causing injury were fatigue-related.
Men were involved in 65% of fatigue-related crashes.
An average of more than 200 out of every 10,000 drivers aged 17 to 20 were involved in fatigue-related crashes. This is twice as many drivers as the 35 to 44 demographic.
Bus drivers (Class C licences) were involved in fatigue-related crashes at a rate of 225 per 10,000 drivers, compared to 169 per 10,000 for school bus drivers (Class B), 146 per 10,000 for tractor trailer drivers (Class A) and 74 per 10,000 for other bus drivers (Class G).
40% of all fatigue-related crashes occurred on roads where the speed limit was 50 km/h.
The most common errors committed by fatigued drivers were following too closely (59%) and losing control (28%).
“The timing of the release of this report couldn’t be better with Ontario’s new February long weekend approaching. For many Canadians, long weekends mean more time spent in the car. We want to educate Canadians about the effects of driver fatigue before they get behind the wheel this weekend,” Mark Yakabuski, president & CEO of IBC and Chair of the Highway Safety Roundtable, said in a release.