Driving Fatigue and Performance among Occupational Drivers in Simulated Prolonged Driving

Introduction: Motor vehicle accident is a major problem in Malaysia. The statistics shows an increasing numberof accidents (year 1997 to 2007). Fatigue and drowsiness among the drivers has been identified as one of themain reasons behind fatal crashes and injuries especially driving in long and monotonous motorway. This studyaims to determine the driver’s driving performance and physiological change of EEG in association with externalfactors such as driving condition and environmental background factors in a prolonged simulation study. Result:The study showed that time-on-task effect had significantly deteriorated drivers’ alertness and impaired drivingperformance in an extended driving period, when certain driving condition and environmental factors considered.Conclusion: This study shows that prolong driving had significantly induced drivers’ fatigue level exclusivelywith monotonous environment. Extended driving period deteriorated drivers’ performance, revealing thattime-on-task effect could possibly put drivers on a higher risk to be involved in traffic accident.