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RESEARCH: Hermann Nabi, Alice Guéguen, Mireille Chiron, Sylviane Lafont, Marie Zins, and Emmanuel Lagarde Awareness of driving while sleepy and road traffic accidents: prospective study in GAZEL cohort BMJ 2006; 333: 75 [Abstract] [Full text]

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Being aware doesn't help

Bettina Lieske   (11 July 2006)

Being aware doesn't help 11 July 2006
Bettina Lieske, SpR General Surgery Oxford Send response to journal: Re: Being aware doesn't help	With interest did I read the study published by Hermann Nabi, Alice Guéguen et al. I am not surprised at their findings that drivers are well aware of their sleepiness, still drive and subsequenly are more likely to be involved in serious RTAs. I would be interested to see the results of a similar study conducted amongst junior doctors subjected to shift work under the European Working Time Directive (EWTD), their awareness of being sleepy while driving home after a late shift or a night on call and subsequent involvement in road traffic accidents (RTAs). The authors' suggestion to prevent accidents by convincing drivers to sleep before resuming their journey will certainly once again call for a debate regarding the provision of on call rooms for doctors, at least for a rest after their shift. Competing interests: I am a junior doctor and driver