Commercial drivers 'more at risk' of crashing due to tiredness

The Driving Standards Agency (DSA) has cautioned commercial drivers on the dangers of resisting sleep while behind the wheel.

Research into road accidents and sleep deprivation were also presented to the government yesterday (July 13th) by road safety charity Brake as part of its new Wake Up campaign.

Commenting on the pressures felt by van and lorry drivers, Sandra Dobson of the DSA said: "They have their own personal deadlines, what their manager expects of them and they're always fighting against how many miles they can drive in a day."

She added: "The working rule for lorry drivers is four hours - so they mustn't drive more than that without a break."

Brake's research, from a survey of 1,000 road users, found that one in eight drivers fell asleep at the wheel in the past year, while over four out of five failed to deal with tiredness properly.

The DSA is an executive agency of the Department for Transport, responsible for administering driver training.

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