The Transport Research Centre (AVV) of the Dutch Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management commissioned the Department of Psychology of the University of Groningen to study the nature and effects of fatigue in the European passenger and freight transport. This report gives an overview of the extent, the occasions and the measures or solutions to the pending problem concerning the relationship between fatigue or drowsiness and road traffic accidents. Statistics and research results are discussed in the light of the quest for effective measures, recognising the severity of the problem, which is not at all clear in itself. Although occasionally reference is made to countries outside Europe, primarily European initiatives, programmes and projects are collected. The main outcome is that within Europe, quite comparable to the USA, technical solutions are preferred. A short compendium of technical solutions is given, as well as a summing up of initiatives and programmes or projects per country as far as derived from the literature, internet and scholarly colleagues. (A)
Abstract