The Finnish Crash Data Institute (OTI) estimates that driver fatigue caused around one-fifth of all fatal vehicle accidents in the country during 2012-2021.
Most of the accidents caused by driver fatigue take place in the summer, and half of them occur during daylight hours. More than one-third (37%) of drivers who caused accidents because they were tired were also intoxicated, the institute said in a press release issued on Thursday.
The institute based its information on accident investigation data from 2012-2021.
OTI traffic safety manager Esa Räty said a number of factors are taken into account when assessing the cause of accidents.
He said that the role of driver's fatigue in fatal accident investigations is not as straightforward as, for example, intoxication. A wide variety of data is collected during accident investigations.
"This includes information offered by eyewitnesses, for their observation of a vehicle straying out of its lane, and seeing that the driver of the vehicle did not use the brakes at all before a collision," Räty explained.
A total of 358 people died in accidents caused by driver fatigue during 2012-2021 — in 233 of those cases the driver died. Meanwhile 60 passengers riding with a tired driver died and 44 people in other vehicles died. During that period 21 cyclists and pedestrians lost their lives in accidents caused by driver fatigue.
"Contrary to what you might think, fatal accidents caused by fatigue do not usually happen at night, but at all times of the day," Räty said in the release, adding that contributing factors include long drives, being otherwise fatigued or even hot weather.
The vast majority (76%) of accidents caused by driver fatigue were on leisure trips, while 13 percent were either professional drivers or otherwise working. Eleven percent of such accidents were drivers commuting to work.
The majority (71%) of the drivers in accidents caused by fatigue were alone in the vehicle, according to the agency.
OTI's traffic safety director, Kalle Parkkari, said it is important for drivers to ensure that they are alert and in a condition to drive safely.
Offering ways to do so, Parkkari suggested that during long trips drivers should take regular breaks, share driving responsibilities with others and to drink enough fluids, especially during the summer.
"If you're tired, you shouldn't drive at all . When it is a question about accidents caused by driver fatigue, it is the drivers themselves that play a significant role in terms of traffic safety," Parkkari said in the release.
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