The aim of this research was to examine police reports of crashes to determine whether the forms could provide more information on the true number of fatigue-related crashes in Western Australia. Information on fatigue-related crashes is important so that countermeasures can be appropriately targeted. Police reports of road crashes were examined by two assessors. Three sets of crashes were evaluated. The first set were those that were identified as fatigue-related by the coders from Main Roads Western Australia. The assessors agreed that 75% were definitely fatigue-related and that the remaining 25% examined were possibly fatigue-related. The second set of crashes examined were those that were defined to be fatigue-related using the New South Wales Roads and Traffic Authority definition of a fatigue crash. The assessors agreed that 12% (n=2) may have possibly been fatigue-related but that the remaining 88% (n=15) were unlikely to be fatigue-related. The third set of crashes were a random selection of all other crashes. None of these crashes were considered to be fatigue- related. Recommendations on the use of police crash report forms to examine the role of fatigue are made. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting