Driving fatigue increases after the Spring transition to Daylight Saving Time in young male drivers: A pilot study

Orsini, Federico; Giusti, Gianluca; Zarantonello, Lisa; Costa, Rodolfo; Montagnese, Sara; Rossi, Riccardo · 2023 · OpenAlex-citations

DOI: 10.1016/j.trf.2023.10.014

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Summary

This pilot study investigates the impact of the Spring transition to Daylight Saving Time (DST) on driving fatigue in young male drivers. While previous research has relied on retrospective crash data, which yields conflicting results due to confounding factors like lighting changes, this study isolates the specific effects of DST-induced circadian desynchrony and sleep deprivation on driver performance. The authors aim to determine if the one-hour clock shift exacerbates fatigue during monotonous highway driving, a scenario where fatigue is a critical safety risk. The experiment utilized a driving simulator with eighteen male participants aged 21–30. Each participant completed two 50-minute trials on a monotonous highway scenario, separated by exactly one week. The first trial occurred in the week preceding the DST transition, and the second in the week following it. To control for learning effects, the researchers compared their results against a historical control cohort that underwent identical trials without a time change. Fatigue was measured using objective driving-based metrics (Standard Deviation of Lateral Position, SDLP), physiological metrics (PERCLOS, measuring eyelid closure), and subjective scales (Stanford Sleepiness Scale, Samn-Perelli Fatigue Scale, and Karolinska Sleepiness Scale). Statistical analyses employed linear and cumulative link mixed-effect models to assess the effects of trial timing and duration, while controlling for sleep habits and chronotype. The results demonstrated a significant increase in driving fatigue in the post-DST trial compared to the pre-DST trial. Objective measures showed worsened vehicle lateral control (higher SDLP) and increased eyelid closure (higher PERCLOS) after the time change. Crucially, participants failed to perceive this decline in alertness through subjective self-assessments, suggesting they were unaware of their impaired state and thus unlikely to employ fatigue-coping strategies. The analysis further revealed that the detrimental effects of DST were more pronounced in individuals with a morning chronotype, those with lower habitual sleep duration, and those who slept less the night before the trial. The control group showed no significant differences between trials, confirming that the observed impairments were due to DST rather than simulator familiarity. These findings indicate that the Spring transition to DST has a measurable, detrimental effect on driving fatigue in young male drivers, specifically impairing lateral control and increasing physiological signs of drowsiness. The study highlights a dangerous disconnect between objective impairment and subjective awareness, implying that drivers may not recognize their reduced alertness. By isolating sleep-related fatigue from other crash-contributing factors, this research provides evidence that DST-induced circadian misalignment poses a specific road safety risk, particularly for vulnerable groups such as morning-type individuals and those with insufficient sleep.

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Topics

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• circadian factors
• truck driver fatigue
• time on task
• drowsiness
• sleep deprivation
• shift work driving