Night Work, Fatigued Driving and Traffic Law: The Case of Police Officers

Abstract

Given the well-known difficulties in defining and detecting fatigue, it is a real challenge to incorporate it into either traffic or criminal law. Finnish traffic law forbids fatigued driving "only" on a general level concerning the driver's fitness to drive. We present several comments from Finnish traffic and local police officers regarding their own experiences of driving while fatigued. The comments were extracted from a larger survey of traffic (N=129) and local (N=100) police officers, and prosecutors (N=96). Although the main topic of the survey was the application of the law that forbids fatigued driving, some police officers raised the issue of their own behavior in this respect. We argue that many shift workers, including police officers, break the law, especially when driving home after a night shift.

A systematic review of the current evidence regarding interventions for anxiety, PTSD, sleepiness and fatigue in the law enforcement workplace

“…That said the majority of articles included in this review discussed fatigue in a mental context; one study sought to identify the symptoms resulting from occupational exposure to a forest fire in Israeli firefighters and police officers found fatigue to be the second most common complaint after eye irritation46 ) . Similarly, the study from Radun et al 47 ) , identified fatigue to be a common concern for police officers, especially as a consequence of night work and the resulting motor-vehicle accident risk47 ) . These concerns were further built upon by another cross-sectional study which identified individual shift work tolerance as being an important factor influencing fatigue development48 ) ; when comparing Dutch police officers based on a subjective self-perception as intolerant, medium-tolerance and tolerance to shift work, the primarily related variables included sleep quality, need for recovery and fatigue48 ) .…”

“…One study suggested motor vehicle accident risk could be ameliorated by fatigue risk management strategies like those within the military or transportation industries42 ) . By comparison, Radun et al 47 ) , suggest employers could offer transport so as to avoid fatigue related motor vehicle accidents and subsequent civil liability claims. Another study suggested that policy changes accounting for the influence of consecutive work hours and secondary employment should be made2 ) .…”