The ABD welcomes today's announcement of a new campaign to remind motorists of the dangers of driving when tired. The organisation has long highlighted tha distraction and fatigue are some of the biggest dangers on our roads. However, government policies are increasingly at the root of much fatigue amongst drivers.
 
ABD spokesman Nigel Humphries explains:

"For decades now the government has been delaying investment in schemes to improve the flow of traffic, encouraging local authorities to obstruct traffic flow, ratcheting down speed limits, imposing speed limiters on trucks and closing roads for overly long periods to investigate accidents. This inevitable causes stress and tiredness amongst drivers. Drivers travelling in free flowing traffic, setting their speeds to the conditions are likely to remain far more alert than those crawling along in jams or becoming 'automatons' whilst adhering to a speed limit set far lower than is necessary."

Chairman Brian Gregory comments:

"It is notable that all recommendations on this issue, including the government's own, suggest taking breaks on a timed basis rather than distance. This is good advice, although one should take a break when one begins to feel fatigued, there is no fixed period. Quite clearly by increasing journey times there is a direct impact upon fatigue. Where once a driver might have completed a journey in two hours whilst remaining alert and interested in their driving, now it is likely the same journey may take two and a half hours and the driver will be 'switched out' and bored due to the monotony of travelling at an unnaturally low speed. This has a huge impact on safety and could well be the reason why according to the government 1 in 5 accidents are now due to tiredness."