Continuing to drive while sleepy: the influence of sleepiness countermeasures, motivation for driving sleepy, and risk perception.

Driver sleepiness is a major contributor to road crashes. The current study sought to examine the association between perceptions of effectiveness of six sleepiness countermeasures and their relationship with self-reports of continuing to drive while sleepy among 309 drivers after controlling for the influence of age, sex, motivation for driving sleepy, and risk perception of sleepy driving. The results demonstrate that the variables of age, sex, motivation, and risk perception were significantly associated with self-reports of continuing to drive while sleepy and only one countermeasure was associated with self-reports of continuing to drive while sleepy. Further, it was found that age differences in self-reports of continuing to drive while sleepy was mediated by participants' motivation and risk perception. These findings highlight modifiable factors that could be focused on with interventions that seek to modify drivers' attitudes and behaviours of driving while sleepy.

[1]  John Trinder,et al.  Subjective and predicted sleepiness while driving in young adults. , 2005, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[2]  V. Reyna,et al.  Risk and Rationality in Adolescent Decision Making , 2006, Psychological science in the public interest : a journal of the American Psychological Society.

[3]  Anna Anund,et al.  Sleepiness and the risk of car crash: a case-control study , 2012 .

[4]  T. Rundmo,et al.  RISK PERCEPTION AND DRIVING BEHAVIOUR AMONG ADOLESCENTS IN TWO NORWEGIAN COUNTIES BEFORE AND AFTER A TRAFFIC SAFETY CAMPAIGN , 2004 .

[5]  P. Philip,et al.  Effects of a combination of napping and bright light pulses on shift workers' sleepiness at the wheel: a pilot study , 2009, Journal of sleep research.

[6]  Giannis Adamos,et al.  Do Road Safety Communication Campaigns Work? , 2013 .

[7]  Julie Hatfield,et al.  A systematic investigation of the differential predictors for speeding, drink-driving, driving while fatigued, and not wearing a seat belt, among young drivers , 2010 .

[8]  M. Becker,et al.  The Health Belief Model: A Decade Later , 1984, Health education quarterly.

[9]  P. Ulleberg.  PERSONALITY SUBTYPES OF YOUNG DRIVERS. RELATIONSHIP TO RISK-TAKING PREFERENCES, ACCIDENT INVOLVEMENT, AND RESPONSE TO A TRAFFIC SAFETY CAMPAIGN , 2001 .

[10]  T. Åkerstedt,et al.  In‐car countermeasures open window and music revisited on the real road: popular but hardly effective against driver sleepiness , 2012, Journal of sleep research.

[11]  S. Epstein.  Integration of the cognitive and the psychodynamic unconscious. , 1994, The American psychologist.

[12]  W. Klein,et al.  Objective standards are not enough: affective, self-evaluative, and behavioral responses to social comparison information. , 1997, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[13]  J. Redman,et al.  Temporal profile of prolonged, night‐time driving performance: breaks from driving temporarily reduce time‐on‐task fatigue but not sleepiness , 2011, Journal of sleep research.

[14]  Niki Harré,et al.  THE DEVELOPMENT OF RISKY DRIVING IN ADOLESCENCE , 2000 .

[15]  J. Horne,et al.  Counteracting driver sleepiness: effects of napping, caffeine, and placebo. , 1996, Psychophysiology.

[16]  Brian L. Burke,et al.  The efficacy of motivational interviewing: a meta-analysis of controlled clinical trials. , 2003, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[17]  Lisa N. Wundersitz,et al.  Best Practice in Road Safety Mass Media Campaigns: A Literature Review , 2010 .

[18]  Nancy Rhodes,et al.  Age and gender differences in risky driving: the roles of positive affect and risk perception. , 2011, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[19]  J. Horne,et al.  Evaluation "in-car" countermeasures to sleepiness: cold air and radio. , 1998, Sleep.

[20]  Darren Pennay.  Community attitudes to road safety: 2008 survey report , 2008 .

[21]  A T McCartt,et al.  Factors associated with falling asleep at the wheel among long-distance truck drivers. , 2000, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[22]  Ward Vanlaar,et al.  Fatigued and drowsy driving: a survey of attitudes, opinions and behaviors. , 2008, Journal of safety research.

[23]  T. Koepsell,et al.  Drowsiness, counter-measures to drowsiness, and the risk of a motor vehicle crash , 2001, Injury Prevention.

[24]  R Cluydts,et al.  Slow‐release caffeine as a countermeasure to driver sleepiness induced by partial sleep deprivation , 2001, Journal of sleep research.

[25]  Kerry Armstrong,et al.  Managing driver fatigue: education or motivation? , 2010 .

[26]  P. Slovic,et al.  A psychological study of the inverse relationship between perceived risk and perceived benefit. , 1994, Risk analysis : an official publication of the Society for Risk Analysis.

[27]  Mark S Horswill,et al.  Stop and revive? The effectiveness of nap and active rest breaks for reducing driver sleepiness. , 2014, Psychophysiology.

[28]  D. A. Kenny,et al.  The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. , 1986, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[29]  Thanuja Gunatillake,et al.  FATIGUE AND REST TAKING: A SNAPSHOT OF VICTORIAN MOTORIST'S PERCEPTIONS , 2003 .

[30]  Tal Oron-Gilad,et al.  Alertness maintaining tasks (AMTs) while driving. , 2008, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[31]  R. Norton,et al.  Driver sleepiness and risk of serious injury to car occupants: population based case control study , 2002, BMJ : British Medical Journal.

[32]  K. Titchener,et al.  The role of affective processes on young drivers’ risk perceptions: a dual process model approach , 2012 .

[33]  Fridulv Sagberg,et al.  Sleepy at the wheel: Knowledge, symptoms and behaviour among car drivers , 2007 .

[34]  Julie Hatfield,et al.  The role of risk-propensity in the risky driving of younger drivers. , 2009, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[35]  Justine Vaisutis,et al.  Sydney & New South Wales , 2007 .

[36]  Kristopher J Preacher,et al.  Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models , 2008, Behavior research methods.

[37]  Marie Helweg-Larsen,et al.  Do Moderators of the Optimistic Bias Affect Personal or Target Risk Estimates? A Review of the Literature , 2001 .

[38]  Melissa L. Finucane,et al.  Risk as Analysis and Risk as Feelings: Some Thoughts about Affect, Reason, Risk, and Rationality , 2004, Risk analysis : an official publication of the Society for Risk Analysis.

[39]  Christopher N. Watling,et al.  Sleepy driving and pulling over for a rest : investigating individual factors that contribute to these driving behaviours , 2014 .

[40]  T. Åkerstedt,et al.  Driver sleepiness and individual differences in preferences for countermeasures , 2008, Journal of sleep research.