ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL - DROWSY DRIVERS

With 13 People Killed, The Selby Rail Crash Highlighted The Dangers Of Sleepy Drivers. It Also Threw Up A Whole Range Of Issues.

The driver found guilty of causing the deaths of 10 people in the Selby rail crash was jailed for five years. Gary Hart was convicted of 10 charges of death by dangerous driving. Some relatives and survivors said they believed Hart had got off too lightly. Hart's Land Rover plunged off the M62 motorway onto the East Coast main line at Great Heck, near Selby in north Yorkshire, on 28 February 2001.

Mr Justice Mackay said: "In my judgment, you [Hart] were not the victim of the Selby rail crash... you were the cause of it." The judge told Hart he had taken a "grave risk" by continuing his journey on the M62 when he was "fighting sleep back." He said Hart had been wrong in his "arrogant claim" that he was not like other people and could drive safely with little sleep. The judge added that there was, in moral terms, little difference between the actions of a drink-driver and those of a sleep-deprived driver. And that is the worrying thing. Though most of us would deny ever driving a car whilst under the influence, how many of us can truthfully admit to never having taken the wheel the worse for fatigue.

The Department of Transport's Think! campaign highlighted the dangers of drowsy drivers. The actual statistics bear out the suspicion that Selby was just waiting to happen, albeit not in such freakily catastrophic circumstances. A two-year investigation based on accidents on the M40 showed that of all accidents logged during that time, an estimated 20% were caused by drivers falling asleep at the wheel. These accidents are difficult to pin down, as drivers were often eit...