Recommendations for current and future countermeasures against sleep disorders and sleep loss to improve road safety in Australia.

Abstract

The Australian National Road Safety Strategy 2011-2020 framed a 19-point action plan targeting a 30% reduction in road deaths by 2020. In achieving a 9% reduction to date, it is likely to fail this target. Sleep disorders and sleep loss did not feature prominently in this strategy, despite their high prevalence and effect on drowsiness and crashes. This article gathers sleep experts to provide recommendations addressing driver education and legislation to assist the response to this public health problem. Developments in drowsiness detection and sleep disorders management are also presented that offer innovative countermeasures that could enhance road safety beyond 2020.