Fatal road accidents among Finnish conscripts: Fatigue-impaired driving. Igor Radun, Jenni Radun & Heikki Summala

Transcription

1 Fatal road accidents among Finnish conscripts: Fatigue-impaired driving Igor Radun, Jenni Radun & Heikki Summala

2 Conscription More than 80% of the men in Finland complete compulsory military service and therefore, injuries during military service are recognized as a public health issue Nordic countries: Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark Service months, young men years old, ineperienced drivers

3 Conscripts injuries The overall incidence for ALL injury hospitalisation during the 10 years study period was 93.7 per 1000 conscripts per year (Mattila et al., 2006) Although only 5.5% of the hospitalizations for injuries among Finnish conscripts in were caused in traffic accidents (Mattila( et al., 2006), leisure time traffic accidents were the leading cause of conscripts deaths (Koskenvuo( Koskenvuo, 1987) Data from Sweden: 106 dead conscripts ; 58% on leave, 30% to/from the garrison, 12% on duty (Bylynd( et al., 1997)

4 Finnish conscripts During their usual si months of service, the conscripts have 12 free back and forth holiday trips Free collective transport organized by military authorities or public transport For additional trips above the free quota, conscripts can obtain major discounts on public transportation Finnish conscripts are allowed to use personal cars for traveling to and from the garrisons

5 Finnish conscripts Falling asleep was the greatest individual causal factor (36%) in 25 fatal accidents caused by conscripts during (Sipinen( Sipinen,, 1990) In most cases, service-related related fatigue contributed to falling asleep behind the wheel 53.8% of the conscripts complained having insufficient amount of sleep while being in the army, and 39.2% felt tired often or always (Partinen( Partinen,, 1982) Having to stay awake during field maneuvers was the most difficult part of training (Lahelma( Lahelma,, 2005)

6 Finnish conscripts In addition to irregular working hours, including night work, the training includes tough physical eercise that can produce fatigue Young men are also one of the riskiest group of drivers for sleep-related accidents (Horne and Reyner,, 1995; Radun and Radun, 2006) The most prevalent group of road users at times with the highest sleep propensity (during the night hours) Several risks factors typical for young men

7 Risks factors typical for young men They are more susceptible to acute sleep loss than the old are (Brendel( et al, 1990) Due to their driving ineperience, young drivers can also overestimate their capabilities and fall asleep without realizing the risks for such events (Gregersen,, 1996) Etra motives that are more typical for young people (Nää( äätänen and Summala, 1976) can push them to continue driving despite increased sleepiness

8 Conscripts and sleep-related accidents Conscripts may be indeed at high risk of fatigue-related accidents while (i) driving tired from garrison to home (ii) driving and partying on free weekend s s nights instead of using time-off to recover from tiring army duties

9 Method Fatal road accidents studied in depth (VALT), A questionnaire collected on 245 conscripts in one garrison in South-Eastern Finland

10 Fatal road accidents During , 137 conscripts were involved in 58 different fatal road accidents Altogether, 60 conscripts died and 13 were seriously injured during the 14-year period Conscripts were responsible for 47 (79.3%) of the accidents with 95% of all conscripts fatalities In addition to 57 dead conscripts, 12 other civilians have died

11 Fatal road accidents More than half (31 of 60) of the conscripts died in army- related (to, in & from) accidents One-third (20 of 60) killed while traveling from the garrisons. Falling asleep was a major cause of the conscripts accidents no matter whether the driving was army related (34.8%) or happened during a free time (36.4%). Rushing was a second big cause of army-related related accidents (26.1%), while drunk driving (22.7%) and suspected suicides (18.2) were typical for free time accidents.

12 Fatal road accidents 10 To garrison From garrison On duty Free time Number of dead conscripts Year

13 Fatal road accidents Number of accidents on duty to garrison from garrison free time special case 2 0 Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Day of week Sat Sun

14 To vs. from trips Twice as many accidents happened while traveling from garrisons compared to driving to garrisons Although the number of trips taken to and from garrison should be equal, it seems that accident risks are not This implies that type of task might be different

15 The conscripts: survey data There were 245 respondents with valid driver license (mean age=19.52, SD=1.1, range 18-29) 88 conscripts (35.9%) had been driving a personal car from/to home in the preceding 2 months 102 conscripts traveled at least sometimes as a passenger in a car driven by his fellow conscript. That gives only 55 conscripts (22.4%) not eposed to such traffic accident risk Of 88 conscripts that drove their personal car, 47 (53.4%), reported driving tired (30 of conscripts reported two or more of such driving within preceding 2 months)

16 Final remarks Discussion in the Finnish Parliament Collective transport organized by military authorities or public transport is the SAFEST Bus driver drunk! 0.9 promiles

17 Thank you!

18 References: Brendel DH, Reynolds CF, Jennings JR, Hoch CC, Monk TH, Berman SR, et al. Sleep Stage Physiology, Mood, And Vigilance Responses To Total SleepS leep- Deprivation In Healthy 80-Year Year-Olds And 20-Year Year-Olds. Psychophysiology 1990; 27: Bylund PO, Thorson J, Eriksson A, Öström M. Vehicle-related fatalities among Swedish conscripts. Military Medicine 1997; 162: Gregersen NP, Bjurulf P. Young novice drivers: Towards a model of their accident involvement. Accid Anal Prev 1996; 28: Horne JA, Reyner LA. Sleep-Related Vehicle Accidents. Br Med J 1995; 310: Koskenvuo K. Varusmiesten terveyden-ja sairaanhoito. Suomen Lääkärilehti 1987; 42: Lahelma E. Finding communalities, making differences, performing masculinities: reflections of young men on military service. Gender and Education 2005; 17: Mattila VM, Parkkari J, Korpela H, Pihlajamäki H. Hospitalisation for injuries among Finnish conscripts in Accid Anal Prev 2006; 38: Näätänen R, Summala H, Road-User Behavior and Traffic Accidents. North- Holland Publishing Company, Amsterdam. Partinen M. Suomalaisten miesten nukkumistottumukset ja unihäiri iriöt t ennen varusmiespalvelusta, varusmiespalveluksen aikana ja sen jälkeen. j Sotilaslää ääketieteellinen aikakauslehti 1982; 57: Radun I, Radun JE. Seasonal variation of falling asleep while driving: An eamination of fatal road accidents. Chronobiology International 2006; 23: Sipinen L. Conscripts in fatal accidents (in Finnish with English abstract). act). Helsinki, Finland, Liikenneturva,, The central organization for traffic safety, 1990.