Examining signs of driver sleepiness, usage of sleepiness countermeasures and the associations with sleepy driving behaviours and individual factors
DOI: 10.1016/j.aap.2015.08.022
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Summary
This study investigates the prevalence of driver sleepiness signs, the usage of sleepiness countermeasures, and their associations with risky driving behaviors and individual factors among Australian drivers. Motivated by the significant contribution of sleepiness to road crashes and the lack of objective measures for sleepy driving, the research aims to determine how specific signs of sleepiness correlate with continuing to drive while sleepy or experiencing a sleep-related close call. Additionally, it seeks to identify demographic, work, driving, and sleep-related factors associated with the use of roadside versus in-vehicle countermeasures. The researchers conducted a telephone survey using Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing with a stratified sample of 1,518 licensed drivers from New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. Participants were required to be at least 17 years old, drive more than one hour per week, and have previously experienced sleepiness while driving. The survey assessed experiences with eight specific signs of sleepiness (e.g., yawning, difficulty keeping eyes open), usage of 19 countermeasures, and various individual factors over the previous five years. Logistic regression analyses were performed to examine the associations between signs of sleepiness and two sleepy driving behaviors: continuing to drive while sleepy and having a sleep-related close call. A separate logistic regression identified factors associated with using roadside countermeasures compared to in-vehicle ones. The results indicated that 69.83% of participants had continued to drive while sleepy, 16.73% had experienced a sleep-related close call, and 2.44% had a sleep-related crash. Early signs of sleepiness, such as yawning (87.87%) and changing position frequently (60.59%), were more common than advanced signs like difficulty keeping eyes open (35.22%). Logistic regression revealed that younger age, male sex, and experiencing signs such as yawning, frequent eye blinks, and difficulty concentrating were significantly associated with continuing to drive while sleepy. For sleep-related close calls, male sex and advanced signs, particularly difficulty keeping eyes open and a dreamlike state of consciousness, showed the strongest associations. Regarding countermeasures, 48.88% used roadside measures (e.g., stopping, napping) and 40.71% used in-vehicle measures (e.g., turning on radio, opening windows). Factors associated with using roadside countermeasures included older age, tertiary education, difficulties getting to sleep, not continuing to drive while sleepy, and experiencing a higher number of sleepiness signs. The study concludes that Australian drivers have reasonable awareness of sleepiness signs, with advanced signs strongly linked to severe outcomes like close calls. However, the high prevalence of continuing to drive while sleepy suggests a need for improved road safety campaigns. The findings indicate that previous experiences with sleepiness and specific demographic factors influence the adoption of more effective roadside countermeasures, highlighting the importance of targeting these groups in safety interventions.
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| Stage | Outcome | Tool | Model | Prompt | Attempts | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| discover | success | OpenAlex-citations | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-19 |
| archive | success | semantic_scholar | — | — | 6 | 2026-06-25 |
| extract | success | pdftotext | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-26 |
| clean | success | clean | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-26 |
| chunk | success | chunk | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-26 |
| embed | success | embed | Qwen/Qwen3-Embedding-8B | — | 1 | 2026-06-26 |
| enrich | success | semantic_scholar | — | — | 4 | 2026-06-26 |
| promote | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-19 |
| summarize | success | llm | qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant | summ-v5 | 1 | 2026-06-26 |
| tag | success | vector_similarity | — | — | 6 | 2026-06-26 |
| verify | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-26 |
Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-26; verification: verified.
Topics
Ranked by relevance to this paper. Hover a topic for its definition.
- drowsiness
- drowsiness detection algorithms
- sleep deprivation
- truck driver fatigue
- vigilance
- drowsy as impairment
Information type
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- Empirical Findings: physiological data, observational prevalence
- Theoretical Contribution: theory or model