If we set priorities well and follow them, we will best prevent road trauma. Car driver fatigue has been a major issue in Australian strategies, for about 10 years. But we should question its priority. A simple method for priority setting uses the incidence of a factor, how much it increases probability of injury and death, and the availability of effective countermeasures. On this basis, driver fatigue compares badly with high priority issues, such as drink driving and speeding. It is more comparable with low priority issues, such as vision. Some measures, such as delineation, are claimed to be justified as countering driver fatigue. But postulation of driver fatigue is not necessary to justify these measures. Driver fatigue, like drug-driving, should be in research programs rather than high-cost countermeasure programs. (A)
Abstract