Publication:Sea Talk Summer 2005/Defence Highway Rest Stop Program
Defence Highway Rest Stop Program
Defence is setting up highway rest stops in a bid to minimise fatigue-related accidents in the festive season.
The program allows Defence drivers to use on-base transit accommodation at any of 14 bases around the country.
"It is specifically targeted at those travel- ling on holidays as opposed to members travelling on posting who are already in receipt of appropriate allowances," said the Deputy Director of the Safety Information Management Unit, Mr Gary Skewes.
"All participating bases provide accom- modation and use of on-base facilities and a number even provide basic accommodation for families."
Security considerations and accommodation needs, Mr Skewes added, mean bookings need to be made in advance.
Vehicle accidents have killed 10 Defence people on Australian roads in the past 12 months.
"This includes motorists, motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians from all three services and other groups in Defence," Mr Skewes said.
"The main contributing factors to most fatal accidents are speed, fatigue and alcohol intake and these have been identified as significant causal factors in Defence vehicle-related deaths."
Over the Christmas-New Year break, fatigue looms large as the major cause of accidents."Christmas is traditionallya time when many Australians travel significantdistances on Australia's highways and roads," Mr Skewes said. "This is particularly the case with Defence personnel who are often postedto areas which are often a long way from friends and family and use the Christmas block leave period as the ideal time to take the trip.
"While road safety experts consider that speed and fatigue are the major cause of road accidents, fatigue is likely to have a higher accident profile for those travelling over the Christmas period."
Two important ways of combating fatigue are to:
- Get enough sleep; and
- Take regular rest breaks.
Mr Skewes said researchers at the Centre for Sleep Research in Adelaide had put the chances of a person who had gone without sleep for 17 hours having an accident as the same as someone with a blood alcohol level of .05 per cent.
"Researchers have also noted that many fatigue-related accidents tend to occur in two distinct periods," he said " - between midnight and 6am, and between 2pm and 4pm.
"These periods correlate to our normal circadian rhythm where the body is at its lowest level of alertness and body temperature and at its lowest capacity for processing incoming information.
"Taking a break in the early to mid-afternoon period significantly lowers the chance of a fatigue-related accident."
Mr Skewes added that drivers often make a choice to get away early on a Friday afternoon and drive through the night to maximise their time at their destination or drive on for those extra few hours to save on accommodation costs.
"Whilst this may save some money this significantly increases the chance of a fatigue related accident and should be avoided where possible," he said.
Full details of the program - targeted at people other than those travelling to take up new postings - can be found on the Occupational Health, Safety and Compensation Branch at:
- Defence Intranet
- ohsc.defence.gov.au/Programs/RoadSafety/
- Defence Internet
- www.defence.gov.au/dpe/ohsc/Programs/RoadSafety/
- ohsc.mi@defence.gov.au
