Motorists 'should not drive while tired'

Date: 30/4/2010

Drivers need to take regular 15-minute breaks on long journeys, a safety expert has suggested.

Figures showed there was an increase in the number of people who died or were seriously injured on Somerset's roads last year, the Weston Mercury reports.

A total of 34 fatal car crashes were reported in the region in 2009 - which is a rise of 17 per cent from the year before - and more accidents occurred on the region's holiday routes.

Terry Beale from the Somerset Road Safety Partnership remarked: "Driver education is clearly an important element. It is only by changing driver and rider behaviour that we will see a lasting reduction in deaths and serious injuries."

He added that tiredness can cause errors in judgement which can lead to serious consequences and cause accidents even at low speeds.

A study recently suggested that drivers could be risking their safety by not ensuring their tyres are inflated to the correct levels with a survey from TyreSafe revealing more than one-third fails to do so.