Drake says wake up to fatigue
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• The government has been criticised by road safety campaign group Brake over its decision to spend only 5ao of Its road safety publicity budget on a campaign to warn drivers about the dangers of falling asleep at the wheel.
Brake says the campaign, which will initially run for two weeks, is not enough and year
round advertising is needed to highlight the problem, given that driver fatigue is believed to be a major factor in up to 20% of road crashes.
'The government should also be doing more enforcement by having more police out on the roads to police all kinds of dangerous drivers. That way they could also catch tired drivers before they cause a crash." says Brake policy officer Cathy Keeler. "It should be looking at road designs and providing more rest areas, as well as educating young drivers and companies."
The government's Think— don't drive tired promotion includes TV and radio adverts showing the devastating outcome when a driver falls asleep. The Highways Agency will also be enforcing the message on its motorway signs.
Figures show that about 300 people are killed and a further 3.000 seriously Injured every year because of driver fatigue.
• MUCK driver Paul uoudridge was recently sentenced to eight years' imprisonment and banned from driving for life after he fell asleep at the wheel, causing a motorway pile-up in which two people died (CM24-30 Jan).