01623728

Component

The present study is concerned with the prevalence of sleepiness at the wheel. Virtually all existing data on this prevalence were obtained from surveys where drivers report about the frequency of experiencing sleepiness during a certain window of time (e.g., the last 12 months). Although they provide valuable information, such surveys do not address the point-prevalence, i.e., the proportion of drivers that is experiencing sleepiness at a given moment in traffic. Estimating this point-prevalence is indeed not a trivial task, given the transient nature of sleepiness and the absence of objective measurement tools. The authors propose a solution based on single trip survey data. Via an internet survey, a large sample of Belgian car drivers was contacted. Each driver provided detailed information about a single trip they made within the past 24 hours. The level of acute sleepiness was measured using the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale. The paper demonstrates how point prevalence can be estimated from the single trip survey data and how relationships with driver- and trip-related variables can be quantified.

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AND30 Standing Committee on Simulation and Measurement of Vehicle and Operator Performance.

01618707

17-00629

English

18p

2017

Transportation Research Board 96th Annual Meeting

Digital/other

Figures; References (25) ; Tables

Automobile drivers; Behavior; Fatigue (Physiological condition); Highway safety; Surveys

Belgium

Highways; Safety and Human Factors

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2017 Paper #17-00629

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Dec 8 2016 10:07AM