Around 450 commercial passenger vehicle drivers learned more about how to get “The Best Rest” and beat fatigue at a special World Mental Health Day event held on Tuesday 10 October at Melbourne Airport.
The drivers also had the opportunity to meet three professional soccer players: Socceroos legend Archie Thompson, Tunisia and Melbourne Victory star Fahid Ben Khalfallah, and Socceroos and Melbourne Knights champion Ivan Franjic.
Drivers were also offered a free smoothie, free giveaways, and a chance to go into the running to win one of ten gift vouchers aimed at improving wellbeing.
The purpose of the event was to raise awareness with drivers about the impact fatigue and mental health has on their driving abilities and overall wellbeing, and techniques to avoid and prevent fatigue.
Like all drivers, CPV drivers face the increased risk of fatigue after two hours of continuous driving, and after 12 hours of continuous driving these risks become severe.
Drivers are ten times more likely to crash after less than three hours sleep, and five times more likely to crash after less than five hours sleep. Being awake for 17 hours or more is the same as having a blood alcohol percentage of 0.05 per cent.
Being adequately rested is key to beating fatigue.
Signs that a driver is fatigued include:
- Having trouble remembering the last few kilometres driven, daydreaming or missing exits or traffic signs.
- Drifting out of the lane, tailgating, hitting a shoulder rumble strip or having difficulty maintaining a consistent, correct speed.
- Finding themselves waiting at green traffic lights or not seeing lights change.
- Having a slower reaction time when braking or stopping at intersections.
Learn more about beating fatigue at: https://safetransport.vic.gov.au/the-best-rest/
The activation event is one of Safe Transport Victoria’s suite of ongoing safety initiatives aimed at improving driver and passenger safety in the commercial passenger vehicle industry.