House of Lords written question – answered at on 12 October 2011.
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to put in place initiatives in the Department of Health and the Department for Transport to improve the collection of statistics, in order to co-ordinate policy to prevent road traffic accidents attributable to the incidence of sleep apnoea among commercial drivers, to ensure better and more timely diagnosis in the National Health Service, and to support the haulage industry to deal with the problem.
The number of injury road accidents in Great Britain for which a police officer attended the scene and recorded the contributory factor "fatigue" was 111 for light goods vehicles (LGV) and 110 for heavy goods vehicle (HGV) in 2008, 98 (LGV) and 95 (HGV) in 2009 and 101 (LGV) and 104 (HGV) in 2010. This accounts for around 2 per cent of all LGVs involved in an injury accident where a "contributory factor" was recorded, and around 3 per cent of such HGVs.
The contributory factor "fatigue" is recorded in accidents in which the police officer's opinion at the time of reporting was that the driver/rider was unable to drive effectively or perceive hazards due to being too tired.
However, information on the number of injuries resulting from reported road accidents caused by drivers with specific medical conditions is not collected as the data are supplied by the police officers attending the scene, who are rarely medically qualified. There are no plans to expand existing statistical collections on this issue.
Those who drive goods vehicles and passenger-carrying vehicles are already subject to a medical examination when they apply for a driving licence at the age of 45 and every five years until 65, when an examination is required every year. The reporting doctor must record whether there is a history of or evidence of sleep apnoea.
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