Experimental studies of driver sleepiness in young adults

Motorists are slowly becoming aware that they are legally and morally responsible for ensuring that they are fully rested and not at risk from sleepiness when driving, while vehicle manufacturers continue to attempt to find fail-safe warning systems. What further practical and theoretical advice can we give to drivers in order to reduce sleepiness-related accidents? Are technological countermeasures a viable alternative? Can we further predict the types of people who are most at risk by examining individual differences? This thesis outlines a series of experimental studies to investigate possible answers to these questions, and discusses the philosophy behind them. [Continues...]