Sonnolenza e incidenti stradali: una rassegna della letteratura / Sleepiness and road accidents: A review of the literature

The review analyzes current knowledge on the relationships between drivers' sleepiness and car crashes based on different approaches. Archive research and surveys aimed at identifying the main risk factors associated with sleep related car crashes show that these are the driver's age and gender (young males are more exposed), the sleep and driving habits of the driver, the presence of nocturnal work shifts. Moreover laboratory and field studies have shown that driving performances are strongly influenced by the quantity of prior sleep and by the circadian moment in which driving is performed. The review considers also studies conducted to identify the countermeasures adopted more frequently by drivers and to assess their actual efficacy. Finally the main methodological problems that must be overcome in order to gain a more accurate knowledge on the relationships between sleepiness and car crashes are considered and some issues for future research are proposed.