Black Fridays for November drivers

Sleepy drivers could be prosecuted for dangerous or careless driving

Fridays in November are the most likely time for drivers to fall asleep at the wheel according to new figures.

Researchers from Thames Valley Police blamed tiredness for the 11% increase in rush hour injury accidents in the week after the clocks went back.

The fact that Fridays are traditionally the end of the working week also makes crashes more common with accidents peaking at around 0300, especially on motorways.

The team studied 6,500 accidents in the force area of Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire between November 1999 to December 2002.

There were 6% more accidents on Fridays caused by tiredness or driver inattention, than the daily average.

Such crashes rose by 5.5% in November compared with the monthly average, and there were 28% more than the hourly average between 0300 and 0400.

Basically motorways early on a Friday morning are a bad place to be, especially in November Bruce Walton, Thames Valley Police Safer Roads Partnership

Driver fatigue or inattention accounted for 40% of deaths and serious injuries on motorways, but just 20% on other roads.

Bruce Walton, collisions analyst for Thames Valley Police Safer Roads Partnership, said: "Basically motorways early on a Friday morning are a bad place to be, especially in November.

"Friday is the end of the working week so that is obviously a factor, while with 3am to 7am you have people who have been driving all night who haven't stopped.

"The reason why November is worse is an interesting one, but we often relate that to the clocks going back."

Inspector Malcolm Collis, head of Thames Valley Police's roads policing specialist units, warned motorists they could end up in court for falling asleep.

Mr Collis advised drivers not to drive for more than one hour between midnight and 0600, to take a 15-minute break every two hours, drink caffeinated drinks and take a 10 to 15 minute nap.