Driving Fatigue and Performance among Occupational Drivers in Simulated Prolonged Driving
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Summary
This study investigates the impact of prolonged driving on the performance and physiological state of occupational drivers, specifically examining how time-on-task and environmental factors contribute to driving fatigue. Motivated by rising road accident rates in Malaysia, particularly among commercial drivers, the research aims to quantify the deterioration of alertness and driving performance during extended, monotonous driving tasks. The study seeks to fill a gap in existing literature by utilizing electroencephalogram (EEG) monitoring and driving simulation to assess fatigue under controlled conditions, rather than relying solely on subjective questionnaires or real-world observational data. The experimental design involved 25 male occupational drivers, aged 23 to 53, who completed a simulated 250-kilometer journey lasting approximately three hours. Participants were divided into two groups: daytime drivers (n=13) and nighttime drivers (n=12). The simulation included varied road conditions, such as town areas, trunk roads, and monotonous highways, as well as simulated rain events. Driving performance was measured using the Running-off-the-Road Index (RORI) and Large Speed Variation (LSV) index. Physiological changes were monitored via EEG, recording spectral power in alpha (8–12 Hz), beta (12–25 Hz), and theta (4–8 Hz) bands. Statistical analyses, including repeated-measures ANOVA, were employed to evaluate changes across 10-minute epochs and different environmental conditions. The results demonstrated that time-on-task significantly impaired driving performance and altered physiological markers. Both RORI and LSV indices increased significantly as driving duration extended, with the most pronounced errors occurring in the final stages of the task. EEG data revealed a progressive increase in alpha and beta spectral power, indicating a decline in alertness, although theta power did not show significant changes, suggesting drivers were in a transitional fatigue state rather than deep drowsiness. Environmental factors also played a critical role; driving on monotonous highways resulted in significantly higher EEG spectral power and greater driving errors compared to complex urban environments. Interestingly, simulated rain events led to lower RORI scores, indicating that reduced visibility prompted drivers to adopt more cautious behaviors, thereby mitigating some performance errors despite the adverse conditions. The study concludes that prolonged driving, particularly in monotonous environments, significantly induces fatigue and deteriorates driving performance among occupational drivers. The findings highlight the "time-on-task" effect as a critical risk factor for traffic accidents, independent of daytime or nighttime conditions. While adverse weather like rain can induce caution, the inherent boredom of highway driving remains a primary driver of vigilance loss. The authors emphasize that simulator results may underestimate real-world risks due to the lack of genuine safety consequences, urging further research to develop effective fatigue prevention strategies for professional drivers.
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| Stage | Outcome | Tool | Model | Prompt | Attempts | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| discover | success | OpenAlex-citations | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-18 |
| archive | success | unpaywall | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-25 |
| extract | success | cached | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-26 |
| clean | success | clean | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-18 |
| chunk | success | chunk | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-18 |
| embed | success | embed | Qwen/Qwen3-Embedding-8B | — | 1 | 2026-06-18 |
| promote | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-18 |
| summarize | success | llm | qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant | summ-v5 | 1 | 2026-06-26 |
| tag | success | vector_similarity | — | — | 6 | 2026-06-18 |
| verify | partial | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-26 |
Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-26; verification: verified_with_issues.
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- Empirical Findings: physiological data
- Theoretical Contribution: theory or model