Biomaterial Database

Fatigue and the criminal law. 2005

Christopher B Jones, and Jillian Dorrian, and Shanthakumar M W Rajaratnam

Centre for Sleep Research, University of South Australia, Level 5, Basil Hetzel Building, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woodville, S.A. 5011, South Australia, Australia.

Fatigue is an increasingly recognised risk factor for transportation accidents. In light of this, there is the question of whether driving whilst fatigued should be a criminal offence. This paper discusses the current legal position, including the problems of voluntary conduct and self awareness. Three models for reform are proposed. The manner in which scientific research can inform legal consideration and future directions for research are discussed.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D003416	Criminal Law	A branch of law that defines criminal offenses, regulates the apprehension, charging and trial of suspected persons, and fixes the penalties and modes of treatment applicable to convicted offenders.	Criminal Justice,Criminal Laws,Justice, Criminal,Law, Criminal,Laws, Criminal
D003617	Dangerous Behavior	Actions which have a high risk of being harmful or injurious to oneself or others.	Behavior, Dangerous,Dangerousness,Hazardous Behavior,Behavior, Hazardous,Behaviors, Hazardous,Dangerous Behaviors,Hazardous Behaviors
D005221	Fatigue	The state of weariness following a period of exertion, mental or physical, characterized by a decreased capacity for work and reduced efficiency to respond to stimuli.	Lassitude
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000063	Accidents, Traffic	Accidents on streets, roads, and highways involving drivers, passengers, pedestrians, or vehicles. Traffic accidents refer to AUTOMOBILES (passenger cars, buses, and trucks), BICYCLING, and MOTORCYCLES but not OFF-ROAD MOTOR VEHICLES; RAILROADS nor snowmobiles.	Traffic Collisions,Traffic Crashes,Traffic Accidents,Accident, Traffic,Collision, Traffic,Collisions, Traffic,Crashes, Traffic,Traffic Accident,Traffic Collision
D001334	Automobile Driving	The effect of environmental or physiological factors on the driver and driving ability. Included are driving fatigue, and the effect of drugs, disease, and physical disabilities on driving.	Automobile Drivings,Driving, Automobile,Drivings, Automobile
D012307	Risk Factors	An aspect of personal behavior or lifestyle, environmental exposure, inborn or inherited characteristic, which, based on epidemiological evidence, is known to be associated with a health-related condition considered important to prevent.	Health Correlates,Risk Factor Scores,Risk Scores,Social Risk Factors,Population at Risk,Populations at Risk,Correlates, Health,Factor, Risk,Factor, Social Risk,Factors, Social Risk,Risk Factor,Risk Factor Score,Risk Factor, Social,Risk Factors, Social,Risk Score,Score, Risk,Score, Risk Factor,Social Risk Factor
D012309	Risk-Taking	Undertaking a task involving a challenge for achievement or a desirable goal in which there is a lack of certainty or a fear of failure. It may also include the exhibiting of certain behaviors whose outcomes may present a risk to the individual or to those associated with him or her.	Risk Behavior,Behavior, Risk,Behaviors, Risk,Risk Behaviors,Risk Taking
D012449	Safety	Freedom from exposure to danger and protection from the occurrence or risk of injury or loss. It suggests optimal precautions in the workplace, on the street, in the home, etc., and includes personal safety as well as the safety of property.	Safeties
D012892	Sleep Deprivation	The state of being deprived of sleep under experimental conditions, due to life events, or from a wide variety of pathophysiologic causes such as medication effect, chronic illness, psychiatric illness, or sleep disorder.	Inadequate Sleep,Insufficient Sleep,Insufficient Sleep Syndrome,REM Sleep Deprivation,Sleep Debt,Sleep Fragmentation,Sleep Insufficiency,Deprivation, REM Sleep,Deprivation, Sleep,Fragmentation, Sleep,Insufficiencies, Sleep,Insufficiency, Sleep,Insufficient Sleep Syndromes,Sleep Deprivation, REM,Sleep Insufficiencies,Sleep, Inadequate,Sleep, Insufficient,Syndrome, Insufficient Sleep