Road Safety Bill [HL]

I am grateful to my noble friend for introducing this amendment. The Government fully share her concern and that of RoSPA about driver tiredness contributing to accidents. This is a serious issue. We do not need consultation on the appropriate measures, as suggested by the amendments, because we have carried out research in recent years that has given us the data needed to inform the department’s advice to drivers and our ongoing publicity campaigns. Results from that research suggest that up to 10 per cent of accidents on the road network are sleep-related in one way or another, which is a truly shocking figure, and that up to 20 per cent of accidents on motorways and similar roads result from drivers’ sleepiness. We estimate therefore that there are some 300 fatalities a year involving a sleeping or nodding driver. The department has evaluated a practical method to enable drivers to overcome sleepiness. We put all this research on our website. We know that sleep does not normally occur suddenly or without warning, and this is true for those with most sleep disorders too. Drivers who try to stay awake by opening the window or turning up the radio before they start to close their eyes are taking risks. That is not to say they are not to be commended for being aware of the condition they are in, but it is not a sufficient strategy to overcome the problem. Relying on cold air or the radio to stay awake is a pretty forlorn strategy. Research tells us that the most effective remedy is to stop somewhere safe—not, I hasten to add, on the hard shoulder of a motorway, which is one of the most unsafe places to stop anywhere in the country—and have a couple of cups of coffee or other caffeinated drink, followed by a sleep of about 15 minutes to give the caffeine a chance to kick in. This is our considered advice on the basis of our research. As will be recognised, we have service areas about every 30 miles on our motorways, and we are seeking to increase the places where people can stop and possibly partake of a coffee they have brought with them in a flask or something. Those measures will help to combat fatigue and thus driver sleepiness and they will reduce accidents. In the light of all that knowledge, our aim is to change driver behaviour. We do not think that we need to consult on it; we know what needs to be done. However, sleep disorders are a particular feature and can be a medical condition. They can be a risk to road safety, and drivers are obliged to make them known to the DVLA so that a medical investigation is carried out and a decision taken on whether the driver should retain his or her licence or hold a licence subject to medical review after a short period. As part of the department’s ongoing research programme into various aspects of the medical fitness to drive, a workshop on driving and the medical aspects of excessive daytime sleeping was held in 2002 and those themes emerged from it. So we are fully seized of the necessity for action in this area. We do not intend to be anything other than unremitting in our campaign to make drivers aware of the dangers of sleepiness.