Fatigue a major risk in ridesharing industry

Fatigue and sleepiness are inherentsafety risks in the ridesharing industry today, the AmericanAcademy of Sleep Medicine warns.

In a new position paper, the AASM calls on ridesharingcompanies, government officials, medical professionals and lawenforcement officers to address drivers' fatigue as a publicsafety risk.

"Fatigued driving is common and this is a realopportunity to work together to address this real safety risk,"said Dr. Indira Gurubhagavatula of the University ofPennsylvania in Philadelphia, who coauthor the group'sstatement.

Gurubhagavatula and colleagues on the AASM board ofdirectors published the statement in the Journal of ClinicalSleep Medicine to call attention to the growing popularity ofridesharing apps and the regulatory and safety issues thathaven't yet been addressed.

Many drivers who work in the industry, for instance, oftenwork other jobs and drive during their "off" time, which canleave few hours for sleep, the authors point out.

As drivers accrue hours of sleep deprivation, their crashrisk escalates.-Jake Nelson

Plus, these drivers typically aren't screened for medicalproblems that reduce alertness, such as obstructive sleep apnea.

Some ridesharing companies now require rest periods afterextended driving shifts, but it can be difficult to enforce anddoesn'tsufficiently address driver safety, Gurubhagavatulasaid.

Between 2005 and 2009, more than 83,000 crashes were relatedto drowsy driving, according to the National Highway SafetyAdministration. In addition, about 20 per cent of crashes pointto driver fatigue as a factor, according to the AAA Foundation.

"As drivers accrue hours of sleep deprivation, their crashrisk escalates," said Jake Nelson, director of traffic safetyadvocacy and research for AAA. "Missing two hours of sleep canleave drivers as impaired as drunk driving."

AAA launched a study this year to investigate the "gigeconomy" (in which temporary, short-term work assignments arecommon) and safety, including the ridesharing industry.

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Drivers who feel drowsy should find a safe place to park andtake a 20-minute nap, Nelson said.

"Naps aren't just for babies," he told Reuters Health byphone. "That 20 minutes could save your life."

Break requirements

Ridesharing companies Uber and Lyft have published safetyrecommendations for drivers on their websites and are workingwith researchers at the National Sleep Foundation and elsewhereto research drowsy driving behaviours.

"Fatigue is something that impacts everyone, and if we'regoing to make roads safer for all travelers and get to the goalof zero road deaths, we all have a role to play," Dr. NadiaAnderson, manager of public policy, road and traffic safety forUber, told Reuters Health by email.

The Uber app, for instance, requires drivers to take asix-hour break for every 12 hours of driving time. Similarly,the Lyft app requires a six-hour break for every 14 hours theapp is in "driver" mode.

"We also send notifications to drivers reminding them aboutthe importance of getting enough rest and investigate anyreports of fatigued or unsafe driving and take appropriateactions, which can include deactivation from the platform," KateMargolis, a corporate communications lead for Lyft, told ReutersHealth by email.

The AASM would like to see regulations that mandate restperiods, limit hours of service and encourage drivers with sleepdisorders to receive treatment.

"Many of these ridesharing drivers are struggling to makeends meet and do this because of economic realities,"Gurubhagavatula said. "We need to create a safe environmentwhere they can make a living without putting their lives atrisk."