ABSTRACT
Endeavours to address fatigue as a factor in traffic crashes rest in part on an uncomfortable combination of disagreements and agreements. On the one hand there is extensive disagreement regarding the definition of fatigue, and there are significant differences in the criteria applied to crash characteristics to determine whether fatigue was a likely causal contributor. On the other hand, despite the disagreements, there is broad agreement that driver fatigue is a major contributor to road trauma and that it must be addressed. Fatigue is well recognized as a major contributor in road safety circles. Fatigue is often promoted to the public as a contributing factor in crashes. In almost every jurisdiction a significant proportion of the road network is rural and typically fatal crashes are over-represented on the rural component of the network, including crashes for which fatigue is identified as a factor.
