Duncan Muindi, not his real name, had been up for about 40 hours when he left his fiancée’s house and started a one-hour drive to his home.
The last thing he remembers is stepping off her porch and walking to his car.
He woke up a few days later on a ventilator in a hospital bed. He was paralyzed from the mid-chest down.
Within seconds, his life had changed forever.
He had fallen asleep behind the wheel and wrecked his car just a few meters from his final destination.
Worldwide, it is estimated that between 10% and 20% of all road crashes are fatigue-related.
Research suggests driving when tired can be as dangerous as drunk driving.
Many factors can contribute to driver tiredness and increase the risk of being involved in a fatigue-related crash.
These include lack of sleep or disturbed sleep due to disruptions in life such as a new baby, busy schedules or stress, or could be due to sleep disorders such as narcolepsy and insomnia.
Stress is also another factor. Tiredness and difficulty concentrating are typical symptoms of stress.
Irregular sleep patterns also increase the risk of fatigue, This can be a problem caused by irregular work shifts and switching from day to night shifts without having sufficient time off in between for your body clock to adjust.
Driving for long periods is also a factor. Research has found driving deteriorates after two hours of continuous driving, as you become less able to concentrate and slower to react to hazards.
The longer you drive, the more rest you need to recover driving performance. Breaks are therefore recommended every two hours.
Statistics from the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) show that at least 11 people died daily through road crashes in 2023.
The number of road fatalities has been increasing since 2018, with 80 per cent of the crashes caused by human behaviour.
The authority’s road safety strategy manager Samwel Musumba said the behaviours include fatigue, speeding, medical conditions, drunk driving, mental health and wellness, finance-related stress, journey planning and management.
“A lot of road crashes that we see in the current times are as a result of fatigue. When you look at fatigue it has a number of components because it involves the body being so tired, you did not rest well, you are doing so many trips, you are doing long trips,” Musumba explained.
If you are doing a long-distance drive, Musamba advises you to take a rest of about three hours before embarking on your journey so that you can relax your mind and avoid causing road crashes.
“If you look at the cases that we have seen in the recent past, drivers cannot even explain what happened. Some of them will run away saying it is a failure but ideally, if you look at it keenly you will find that they lost some concentration,’’ he noted.
“Fatigue can be managed. Journey planning starts from your house; how did you sleep? How much sleep did you get? What did you eat before embarking on that particular journey? Most of us don’t sleep for the 8 hours that we are supposed to sleep,’’ he added.
A tired driver who kills someone can be charged with death by dangerous driving or death by careless driving.
Signs of fatigue Fatigue does not occur without warning, and most people recognize the symptoms but many still underestimate the dangers of continuing to drive while tired.
Warning signs include increased difficulty concentrating yawning heavy eyelids and eyes starting to ‘roll’.
The chair of the Motorists Association of Kenya (MAK) Peter Murima is cautioning drivers against driving for more than 8 hours in a single day without a break as this could lead to available road crashes.
“Take a break of about two and half hours when driving long distances then you stretch, probably have a drink, do the health break and then after some relaxation you continue with your journey,’’ Murima advised.
He said don’t go behind the wheel if you did not have enough rest.
For long-distance drivers, Murima asked the government to establish lay-bys that are essential for long-haul truck drivers and other transport professionals.
They offer a safe place to take rest breaks, which are not only necessary for driver well-being but also mandated by regulations to prevent fatigue-related accidents.
“For example, lay-bys are available in Tanzania and they are secure. In this country if you stop by the roadside as a truck driver you will be accused of destroying the road shoulder so they need you to keep going,” he said.
Worldwide, road traffic crashes kill approximately 1.3 million people every year - more than two every minute - with more than nine in ten of all deaths occurring in low and middle-income countries.
WHO estimates that crashes will cause another 13 million deaths and 500 million injuries around the world by 2030 if urgent action is not taken.