Publications by authors named "Vanessa E Wilkinson"

Introduction: Driver drowsiness detection technology that assesses eye blinks is increasingly being used as a safety intervention in the transport industry. It is unclear how alcohol consumption to common legal driving limits impacts upon this technology. The aim of the study was to assess the impact of a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Drowsy driving is a major cause of fatal and serious injury motor vehicle accidents. The inability objectively to assess drowsiness has hindered the assessment of fitness to drive and the development of drowsy driving regulations. This study evaluated whether spontaneous eye blink parameters measured briefly pre- and post-drive could be used to detect drowsy driving impairment.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: Benzodiazepines impair driving ability and psychomotor function. Eyelid parameters accurately reflect drowsiness; however, the effects of benzodiazepines on these measures have not been extensively studied. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of benzodiazepines on eyelid parameters and evaluate their accuracy for detecting psychomotor impairment.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Study Objectives: Drowsiness leads to 20% of fatal road crashes, while inability to assess drowsiness has hampered drowsiness interventions. This study examined the accuracy of eye-blink parameters for detecting drowsiness related driving impairment in real time.

Methods: Twelve participants undertook two sessions of 2-hour track-driving in an instrumented vehicle following a normal night's sleep or 32 to 34 hours of extended wake in a randomized crossover design.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Study Objectives: Drowsiness is a major risk factor for motor vehicle and occupational accidents. Real-time objective indicators of drowsiness could potentially identify drowsy individuals with the goal of intervening before an accident occurs. Several ocular measures are promising objective indicators of drowsiness; however, there is a lack of studies evaluating their accuracy for detecting behavioral impairment due to drowsiness in real time.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF