Conclusions

• Publicity campaigns may help educate the general public about the problem of driver fatigue and possible countermeasures. Care should be taken to provide drivers with clear and practical messages. It should be quite clear that drivers should prevent fatigue rather than try to overcome it, and that they should stop driving when they feel very tired.
• Within transport companies, fatigue management plans may be successful in combating driver fatigue provided they are endorsed at all company levels and part of a more general safety culture.
• Further improvement in legislation concerning driver fatigue will take time, but is a necessary part of the total solution. The current EU legislation does not take into account all factors relevant to fatigue and EU Member States legislations are highly variable in terms of legal rules for driving fitness for persons with a sleeping disorder.
• In the future, driving assistance systems may warn the driver when the driver or vehicle show signs of fatigue-induced behaviour.
• Knowledge about cost-benefit of various countermeasures is needed.