This report focuses on the issue of driving while tired and the seriousness of crashes involving drivers affected by fatigue. Since the invention of the electric light bulb by Thomas Edison in 1879 there has been a significant reduction in the average hours of sleep obtained each night. This, combined with longer working hours and more recent technologies such as the internet, has led to a society that operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week where daily fatigue is an issue. The primary purpose of this report is to examine the involvement of driver and rider fatigue in road crashes in Queensland. Our recommendations to Parliament aim to reduce the incidence of fatigue-related crashes. Fatigue was a contributing factor in five per cent of the total reported crashes and in 13 per cent of fatal crashes in Queensland for 2003. Thus, fatigue is greatly over-represented in fatal crashes. These statistics, however, are likely to underestimate the actual number of fatiguerelated crashes due to the difficulty in defining fatigue and accurately identifying drivers affected by fatigue. Although fatigue has a dramatic impact on road safety, its causes and effects are not limited to the road. The recommendations from this report are designed to work jointly to produce an overall reduction in fatigue and, particularly, fatigue-related crashes. The committee made recommeThis report examines whether blood alcohol content (BAC) testing of road accident casualties who attend a hospital for examination or treatment as a result of a motor vehicle accident should be made compulsory in Queensland. It is the second of a series of reports that the committee intends to produce on alcohol and other drug related road safety issues. The issue of compulsory BAC testing was raised during the committee’s 1996 inquiry into Queensland’s road toll. Drink driving remains one of the top causes of mortality and morbidity on Queensland roads. In 1995, almost 40 percent of fatally injured drivers and riders who were tested were found to have a BAC above 0.05, the maximum legal limit. Of these, more than 70 percent were above 0.15, three times the maximum legal limit and 20 percent had a BAC above 0.25, more than five times the legal limit. In recent decades, there has been a growing recognition of the serious road safety problem caused by drink driving and a greater willingness by governments to address the problem. These developments have led to the implementation of a wide range of drink driving countermeasures. In some Australian jurisdictions, compulsory BAC testing of certain road accident casualties who attend hospital has formed an integral part of their package of drink driving countermeasures. The committee believes that compulsory BAC testing should be introduced in Queensland. It is satisfied that the existing provisions for BAC testing of road accident casualties at hospitals are inadequate and that the introduction of compulsory BAC testing in the form proposed by the committee will solve many of the problems. The committee also believes that if its proposed model for testing is adopted it will generate benefits in excess of its costs. These benefits will include: increased detection and removal of drink drivers from Queensland roads; improvements to the integrity of Queensland’s data on alcohol as a factor in crashes; better casualty management at hospitals; improved identification and treatment of drink drivers; and the prevention of hospitals being used as ‘safe havens’ from the law. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting