Easter road trip warning as figures show drowsy driving drops

16 Mar 2016

The Transport Accident Commission has issued a road safety plea ahead of the Easter long weekend as new figures show more Victorians are heeding the message around driver fatigue.

The TAC's latest Road Safety Monitor shows the number of country Victorians admitting to regularly driving while drowsy had halved in just two years.

Nine per cent confessed to regularly driving tired, a significant fall from 18 per cent in 2013.

TAC senior road safety manager Samantha Cockfield said it was pleasing to see that 91 per cent of people surveyed were regularly doing the right thing by not driving while drowsy.

However, in peak holiday periods, drowsiness remains a common factor in crashes.

"Weekends like Easter see a lot of people getting out and seeing different parts of the state and many are travelling longer distances than they are accustomed to and on roads that they are not familiar with," Ms Cockfield said.

"When you add drowsiness into the mix, it can be a tragic recipe."

Driving after 17 hours of no sleep is the equivalent of having a blood-alcohol level of 0.05, while after 24 hours or a full day awake, this becomes similar to 0.1 or twice the legal limit.

Ms Cockfield urged anyone taking a road trip this Easter to plan their trip and to take advantage of SES Driver Reviver sites across the state.

"Having a rest stop mid-trip gives you the chance to walk around, get some fresh air and have a cup of coffee to break up a long drive," Ms Cockfield said.

"If you're feeling really tired, having a 15-minute powernap is a proven way to recharge the batteries before returning to the road.

"But the best thing anyone can do before a long drive is get a good night's sleep, there really is no substitute for it," she said.

To function at their best, a healthy adult needs on average seven to nine hours' sleep a night.

In the past five years, 18 people have lost their lives on Victorian roads over the Easter long weekend, including four last year.

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