Russell,

On Thu, 23 Sep 2004 14:31:42 +1200, Russell McMahon wrote:

> I read somewhere recently (source unrecalled) that 30 to 40% of US road 
> "accidents" are "drift offs" with the vehicle leaving the road apparently 
> unnecessarily (left or right) without another vehicle being involved in this 
> occurring. (Another vehicle may be subsequently struck but didn't cause it 
> to start happening).
> 
> One can wonder about the reason for such accidents happening. One would 
> presume loss of concentration or going to sleep. Percentage seems high. 
> (Long ago I went to sleep on a motorbike and fell off at about 50 mph :-). 
> That was under very taxing conditions but I would hardly have credited that 
> it was possible.)

There was a tragic event here one night a few years ago, when a Landrover towing a trailer (I can't remember 
what was on the trailer, if anything) left the motorway *just* before the Armco barrier protecting a railway 
bridge, went behind the barrier down the embankment into a field, and then into the railway cutting, stopping 
across the nearest railway track (of 4).  The driver got out just before it was hit by an express train, which 
then derailed and carried on for some hundreds of yards, encroaching on the next track across, where it was 
then hit by another train.  A number of people died, and the driver was eventually convicted of "causing death 
by dangerous driving", I believe.  The police investigation showed that he must have fallen asleep (he claimed 
he hadn't) and it turned out he had been driving for many hours, and had had very little sleep ofer the past 
two days.  There were an awful lot of "ifs" that would have stopped this happening - if the barrier had been 
fifteen feet longer (they have revised the standards since), if he'd stayed awake another 5 seconds, or had 
been going 1mph faster... but like most disasters it takes a whole series of random chances to make it happpen 
- but happen they do!

Having worked night shifts many years ago, I know that the human body *will* fall asleep if it needs to badly 
enough.  Driving with your head out of the window, with the radio turned up, physically holding your eyelids 
open (!) will all fail if you're tired enough.  On more than one occasion I pulled over for a 30-minute nap to 
be able to get home!  I can, and have, fall asleep standing up on a train  :-)

It's very hard to collect figures for accidents caused by tiredness (there's no "TiredAliser" to check, 
especially on a body) but those that are known seem to show that it kills many more people than most people 
think.  And, of course, "It'll never happen to me"...

Cheers,

Howard Winter
St.Albans, England


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