Driving tired: cultural factors, long-distance driving and fatigue

Abstract

Fatigue is well recognised as a major contributor to traffic crashes, especially on country roads. Definition and measurement are acknowledged to present serious difficulties to understanding driver fatigue, but resolving those difficulties offers little assistance in understanding why drivers continue to drive once they recognise they are tired. A small-scale qualitative study used standard semistructured interview methods to explore cultural values that might encourage such behaviour. In particular, it focused on the culturally mediated meanings through which drivers interpret their situations and understand themselves.