Assessing the Effect of Lack of Sleep on Driver's Performance: A Simulator Study

Abstract

Current research assesses the effect of fatigue on drivers' performance.• The results show that the level of alertness has decreased in fatigued driving. • Male participants have showed better response time when compared to female participants. • Young participants are more affected by fatigue driving than older people. Science evidence suggests that fatigue due to lack of sleep is a major cause of most traffic accidents. Fatigue can arise when people do not get enough sleep, which is at least 7 hours, and this deprivation can impair body performance physically and mentally while driving. This study investigated the effect of sleep deprivation fatigue on driving performance. Experiments were performed for two types of tasks, Fatigue driving tasks (sleep deprivation) and non-Fatigue driving tasks (without sleep deprivation) on a driving simulator at the University of Technology, in which 42 participants; aged (19-55) took part with an average age (mean = 33.14, SD = 10.26). Driver performance was assessed using descriptive methods to verify response time and subjective behavior methods using the Stanford Drowsiness Scale. The results showed a gradual increase in the average response time of the fatigued drivers compared to the non-fatigue drivers. The results of the response time indicated that all groups were affected by the test conditions, through the variation in the average response time between the two tasks. In a related context, the results of the Stanford Drowsiness Scale show a significant increase in the average degree of drowsiness for fatigue drivers, as it was greater than for non-Fatigue drivers.