1. FATAL FIVE FATIGUE
Driver fatigue is a very dangerous condition created when a person is suffering symptoms of fatigue resulting from the hypnotic effect leading to diminished driver's vigilance level.
Statistics show that 20% of all the traffic accidents and up to one-quarter of fatal and serious accidents are due to drivers with a diminished vigilance level.

2. FATIGUE FACTS Fatigue is the hidden killer
Fatigue-related crashes are twice as likely to be fatal.
You are 4 times as likely to have a fatal crash if you are driving between 10pm and dawn
79% of all fatal fatigue crashes occur on country roads
PRESENTER’S NOTE: Ask if anyone has ever had a fatigue incident while driving. Ask them to describe the incident and discuss what led to their tiredness? Were they aware they were tired? Did they know they were nodding off? Do they do things differently now?
Fatigue/tiredness is one of the three big killers (speed, fatigue, alcohol) on NSW roads and, not surprisingly, it’s a common factor in rural crashes. Fatigue crashes also happen in metro areas.
Some key facts:
Fatigue-related crashes are twice as likely to be fatal - drivers who are asleep can't brake
Being awake for about 17 hours has a similar effect on performance as a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.05
Fatigue/tiredness can happen on short or long trips—often drivers are tired before they get behind the wheel. There are many factors that can contribute to tiredness such as work, physical and social activity (late nights).

3. Source: NSW Centre For Road Safety
Use this fact to highlight that this is how bad fatigue related crashes are. See %’s below
2012: Alc 15.2 Vs Fatigue 16.8
2013: Alc 15.9 Vs Fatigue 18.6
2014: Alc 16.3 Vs Fatigue 17.3
2015: Alc 12.9 Vs Fatigue: 15.7
2016: Alc 15.5 Vs Fatigue 21.1
NOTE: This does not include Drugs, only alcohol related crashes

4. DON’T TRUST YOUR TIRED SELF
Please watch the video from your documents.
Video:

5. TIREDNESS IS ONE OF THE THREE BIGGEST KILLERS ON OUR ROADS.
FATIGUE
When driving, early warning signs of fatigue include:
Repeated yawning
Poor concentration / boredom / restlessness
Tired eyes / blinking
Drowsiness
Slow reactions
Boredom
Oversteering
Feeling tired / drowsiness
TIREDNESS IS ONE OF THE THREE BIGGEST KILLERS ON OUR ROADS.
The best way to avoid driving tired is to make sure you have enough sleep before driving no matter how long or short the trip.
Look out for the ‘early warning signs of fatigue’ and take a break regardless of how long we’ve been driving.
When driving, early warning signs of fatigue include:
repeated yawning
poor concentration/boredom/restlessness
tired eyes/blinking
feeling tired/drowsiness
slow reactions/oversteering.
It is important to plan ahead—get a good nights’ sleep and take regular breaks to avoid becoming tired while driving. Assess how tired you are before starting your journey. If you experience any early warning signs, pull over in a safe place and rest.

6. Missing 2hrs of sleep almost doubles your chance of having a crash

8. Micro Sleep Circadian Rhythms Sleep Debt Sleep Inertia
Discuss the reasons why we can be fatigued:
Circadian rhythms: Our bodies are programmed to sleep at night. Even those doing long term shift work still have trouble staying awake at night. So driving at night or when we would normally sleep puts us at greater risk of experiencing fatigue.
Sleep debt: Most people need about eight hours of sleep. Without it we build a ‘sleep debt’—the difference between the sleep you need and the sleep you get. The greater the debt the stronger the urge to fall asleep. The only way to pay a sleep debt is to sleep it off.
Sleep inertia: This is a feeling of grogginess after waking. While some people shake it off within a few minutes, others can experience sleep inertia for much longer after they wake.
What can happen – micro sleep:
A ‘micro sleep’ is the eventual outcome of driving while tired/fatigued. A microsleep is a short, unplanned sleep episode characterised by eyes closing or head nodding.
During a four second microsleep, a car travelling at 100km/h will travel 111 metres (more than a rugby league field) while completely out of the driver’s control. Consider too that at any time deadly hazards like trees, embankments and other vehicles are just metres away. Remember you can’t brake if you are asleep.
Circadian Rhythms
We are programmed by our body’s circadian rhythms to sleep at night and be awake during the day. During night-time hours and – to a lesser extent – during afternoon siesta hours, most types of human performance are impaired, including our ability to drive. Problems occur if we disrupt our natural sleep cycles, especially by staying awake during the night, and do not get enough sleep or suffer poor quality sleep.
Circadian rhythms cannot be reversed. Even if you have been working night shifts for many years, your body will still be programmed to sleep at night.
Older drivers tend to have more fatigue-related crashes during the afternoon siesta hours. Try to avoid driving at these times and watch out for the early warning signs.
Younger drivers tend to have more fatigue-related crashes during the night. Try to avoid driving between 10pm and 6am, when the fatigue crash risk is greater.
Sleep Debt
We all need about eight hours of sleep a night to function effectively. When we reduce the amount we sleep at night, we start to accumulate a sleep debt. It’s the difference between the hours of sleep you need and the hours you get. When we have sleep debt, our tendency to fall asleep the next day increases. The larger the sleep debt, the stronger the tendency to fall asleep – including when you are driving. Sleep debt can only be erased by having more sleep.
Sleep Inertia
Sleep inertia is most dangerous for people who drive in the early morning hours, particularly shortly after waking from sleep. Sleep inertia is the feeling of grogginess you experience after waking. It can affect your ability to perform even simple tasks. It is usually reversed within 15 minutes by activity and noise. However, it can last up to four hours. Its severity depends on how much sleep you had and at what stage of the sleep cycle you awoke.
FATIGUE
Micro Sleep Circadian Rhythms Sleep Debt Sleep Inertia

9. TIPS TO AVOID FATIGUE
Get a good night’s sleep before commencing a long trip
Avoid long drives after work
Share the driving whenever possible
Don’t drive at times when you would normally sleep (10-6)
Never drink alcohol before or during long trips
Eat proper and well balanced meals preferably at your normal meal times
Take a power nap if tired (even 15mins can reduce risks)
Don’t drive while taking medication that may affect your riving
Plan not to ravel more than 8-10 hours in any one day.
Take regular breaks from driving, every 2 hours – Stop, Revive, Survive
Always KNOW and TRUST your own warning signs. The ONLY cure for fatigue is SLEEP

10. DISCUSSION
What are your personal signs of fatigue? How do you know when its time to pull over? Do you listen?
Have you ever experienced a micro sleep? What was the context around it? Was it after a big weekend, a night out, a work day or just a normal afternoon and you weren’t expecting it?
Have you ever had a minute sleep in a rest area? How did you feel after it?