lOMoAR cPSD| 3013804
Essay "The negative effects of driving fatigue on driving
performance"
Introduction To Psychology: Physiological & Cognitive Psychology
(University of Queensland)
lOMoAR cPSD| 3013804
The negative effects of driving fatigue on driving performance
The world we live in today contains over one billion cars worldwide (wards Auto,
2012). Cars play a huge role in our daily lives, it is important that we know how to drive
fittingly as well as safely. In a recent study it was found that fatigue was the third highest
cause of fatal car crashes, only just behind intoxicated driving and falling asleep behind the
wheel (Beanland, Fitzharris, Young and Lenné, 2013). In this essay,it will be argued that
sleep deprivation will lead to a lower performance in driving. This argument is supported by
two studies which discusses how driving performance is affected by sleep deprivation with
comparison to alcohol. Both the studies (Stephen and Robert, 1999; Williamson and Feyer,
1999) found that fatigued driving lowers driving related tasks to almost the same as a
person with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.05. Thus validating this thesis is of
extreme value to the public as it will support the creation of new and improved laws to take
fatigue drivers off the road.
Williamson and Feyer conducted a study in the early 2000, which compares the
effects of sleep deprivation to alcohol on driving performance. In this study there were two
independent variables (IV); partakers were given a set amount of alcohol in four does to
achieve a set BAC and had 5 levels of variation. The participants were also kept awake for a
set amount of time, to a maximum of 28 hours and had 15 levels of variation. In order to
measure the effects of the IV on the experiment, a series of dependent variables (DV) were
used in the form of computer simulated tests; simple reaction time, Mackworth clock, dual
task, tracking, spatial memory search, symbol digit test, grammatical test and memory
search test. A total of 39 participants partook in this study, which 37 of them were male and
two were female. 30 of the subjects volunteered from a transport company and nine from the
Australian army. The study was conducted over a three day period with participants doing
both alcohol and sleep deprivation tests; day one used for practice, day two for alcohol and