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ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL

Long-distance drivers risk falling asleep at the wheel

We're all familiar with the phrase "tiredness kills" - so why is driver fatigue still the main cause of HGV and coach accidents? Inside Out joined the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) to find out more.

The statistics are shocking - one in five motorway accidents are caused by someone falling asleep at the wheel.

And for commuters Ben and Lynne, the consequences of driving tired are all too real.

They witnessed a fatal accident when a lorry careered across motorway traffic, colliding with a car and killing its driver.

Lynne recalls, "We were travelling along the A38 and out of the corner of my eye I spotted a lorry on the hard shoulder.

"He cut right across the dual carriageway."

Ben saw the lorry collide with a passing car.

He says, "My first reaction was 'what the heck is he going to do now?'

"I glanced down to my right to see the wheels literally mounting the Volkswagen.

"That's when I realised it was pretty serious."

So serious, in fact, that the driver of the car later died from her injuries.

Although the lorry driver's overtime was not regarded as the main cause of the accident, he was later prosecuted for tearing off his tachograph, a machine which records the amount of time a driver has been on the road..

Lynne continues, "As a road user I think it is absolutely appalling that they are allowed to do this and get away with it.

"It is a danger to everybody."

Accidents like this are exactly why there are strict regulations about the amount of hours a professional driver can do each week - so why are these rules being flouted?

Inside Out followed VOSA on a special operation targeting drivers who are dodging the system.

Safety first

EU regulations currently state that a driver must take a 45 minute break for every four and a half hours of driving, and that a driver should do no more than 90 hours driving every fortnight.

A tachograph records driving information on a paper disc

Every coach and HGV lorry is fitted with a tachograph, which monitors how long a driver has been on the road or doing other work.

To make sure they are not exceeding their hours, every driver has to carry their weekly charts.

But many drivers don't always carry these documents, and some even try to tamper with the machine.

Dave Springbett, from the Transport and General Workers' Union, says, "The tachographs can be modified - it's down to the driver.

"He has to put it into drive, rest or other work mode.

"If a driver puts the tachograph to rest when he's actually doing other work, nobody's ever going to know unless someone's there to catch him red-handed."

We've barely been on the road for half an hour when the VOSA team issue their first prohibition.

They've stopped a driver who is unable to produce all his tachograph charts.

Fortunately his company are able to fax the records through and everything seems to be in order.

But soon the inspectors are back on the case with another coach driver, whose charts don't tally up.

VOSA officer Andrew Sauerzapf says, "A driver's produced charts which indicate he's had a whole day's rest, but the mileage readings don't tie up and we have evidence that the vehicle's been moved."

The coach is escorted to the nearest service station to allow passengers to relax while the driver is being formally interviewed.

The driver is finally allowed to carry on his journey as the offence happened several days ago and the inspectors are happy he is currently fit to drive.

But offences like this are not uncommon.

Bending the rules

Many professional coach and HGV companies put pressure on their drivers to meet unreasonable deadlines, such as driving all night without a break.

PC Mel Small, of Avon and Somerset Police, tells us, "The rules for drivers' hours are all based around road safety, to ensure that they only drive a certain amount of hours a day and then have to have a certain amount of rest.

Road safety is paramount to VOSA and the police

"It is important because we now know that fatigue kills as many people on the roads in this country, if not more, than drink-driving," he explains.

"A small minority of commercial operators deliberately encourage their drivers to disregard their hours and safety rules in order to get their delivery to where it has to be on time.

"They will take the chance of being fined or taken off the road for 24 hours in order to do that."

Working overtime like this can be detrimental to the driver's health, and can certainly affect the safety of his driving.

Inside Out met "George", an ex-truck driver who did not want to be identified.

He told us that about 90% of professional drivers on the road break the rules - himself included.

He even admitted to having fallen asleep at the wheel.

"I think I had done a 15-hour day prior and had about six and a half hours break.

"Luckily there was another driver in the lorry, but the job had to be done."

George also told us how he used to tamper with his tachograph.

"There are lots of ways of doing it and it is very easy to do.

"My favourite was to stop the lorry, put the tachograph clock 12 hours forward, replace it and put it back exactly 12 hours when I got to my destination.

"It looks as if you have had your 12 hour break."

But taking a break is very important - even closing your eyes for a second could lead to a serious accident.

Dave Springbett believes there are so many accidents in the South West because tired drivers don't pay attention to the change in conditions.

"If a driver has come off the ships in Dover or from the North they would have been driving perhaps all day, ending their journey down in the South West.

"All of a sudden the roads are getting smaller, more windy, more dangerous - all combined at a time when a driver is most fatigued."

Clamping down

ID cards like this will be issued to all professional drivers

But it's not all bad news - next year will see the implementation of some new initiatives, which aim to better regulate the industry.

Among the new measures is a new digital tachograph, which will record everything onto hard drive.

Drivers will also have to carry a personal driver ID card - and that means no more cheating.

Steve Bing, from Actia On Board Electronics, says, "The driver carries a card with his photo on the front and a microchip on the back.

"The chip is government level security - it stores the last 28 days worth of driving information.

"The driving unit fitted in the cab of the vehicle stores the last year of driving for any driver that has driven the vehicle."

VOSA has also been given the power to apprehend vehicles themselves, which means that they will no longer need to rely on the police to check on roads and motorways for offenders.

It's a step in the right direction, and one which Dave Springbet hopes will reduce the possibility of accidents.

He says, "I don't want to be on the motorway with my family in the car amongst people who have been driving for 80 hours a week behind the wheel of a 44 tonne potential killing machine."