Canada ‘s official strategy to fight fatigue impairment was adopted in December 2004. It is part of Road Safety Vision: 2010, a plan to make Canada ‘s highways the safest in the world.
The strategy is based on lessons learned, encouraging seatbelt use and preventing drinking and driving. The strategy document sets out objectives in terms of:
- Research
- Public Education and Awareness
- Role of enforcement
- Road Infrastructure/Standards
- Legislative/Regulatory Initiatives
The Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators (CCMTA) guides the implementation of the strategy. The CCMTA is made up of public service professionals, from provincial, territorial and federal government agencies, who are responsible for highway safety in Canada.
Implementation and funding is the responsibility of individual jurisdictions.
A CCMTA working group called the Strategy to Reduce Impaired Driving (2010 Task Force, Sub-group on Fatigue (or STRIDF) is charged with encouraging the strategy to combat driver fatigue.
In 2005 STRIDF adopted a definition of fatigue-impaired collisions for the purpose of statistical analysis. This operational definition is based on factors typical of collisions caused by fatigue impairment.
STRIDF has tested the Canadian operational definition and plans to present a report measuring the incidence of fatigue-impaired collisions for the May 2006 meetings of the CCMTA.
On June 19, 2008 the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators released a report on crashes involving drowsy drivers. The report covers national fatality trends from 2000 to 2005 as recorded in Transport Canada’s National Collision Database.