Fatigue driving has dire consequences and between 2012 and 2016, 21% of regional road fatalities involved fatigue driving as a contributing factor. Early warning signs of fatigue driving include:

• Wandering thoughts
• Missing a gear
• Breaking late
• Slowing unintentionally
• Yawning
• Blinking more

The biggest thing I learnt while completing this task was the importance of sleep before driving. Before this assessment, I didn’t realise how not getting enough sleep could impact your reaction and breaking time, and is the same as having a BAC of 0.05. Another thing I learnt while completing this task was the ways to prevent fatigue driving. I knew that taking breaks while on long drives was important, however I didn’t realise that drinking coffee was ineffective to preventing fatigue driving, and that the only real way to prevent fatigue driving is to get an adequate amount of sleep. While coffee may give you an initial buzz, it is ineffective against preventing fatigue driving. Initially I thought that drinking coffee would increase your alertness for one to two hours, but this is not true. I think that many young drivers have this misconception and that could possibly account for crashes caused by fatigue driving. Getting enough sleep is crucial to preventing fatigue driving, and it is recommended that you should get a minimum of 6 hours sleep per night to avoid fatigue driving

One piece of advice I would pass on to young drivers above all else is to always have a driver that you can swap with on long drives. This way both people can have a break from driving, and it can prevent fatigue driving. It also means that you have someone to talk to and keep you awake, rather than being mesmerised by the long country roads. This person also may be able to spot your signs of fatigue driving before you do and is a great way to avoid fatigue driving. Having an extra driver also allows you to have a 20-minute power nap in the passenger seat, which is also effective to preventing fatigue driving. Most fatigue related crashes occur on regional roads and long drives, so it is key to plan which prevention methods you will use while on these drives.

I pledge to always remember the consequences of fatigue and distracted driving, and implement the proper strategies to prevent accidents caused by them. The strategies I can implement are:

• Having a spare driver on long road trips
• Always getting adequate sleep before driving
• Putting my phone on do not disturb

I have chosen to commit to these things because I want to make the road a safer place to be, and these impact many young drivers across Australia. I also never want to put other people at risk because of my reckless behaviour. I will stick to these commitments by putting my phone on do not disturb while driving, planning long road trips so I know when to take a break and if I might need a second driver.