Fatigue at the wheel: Traffic accident on B100 ensures chaos!

Fatigue at the wheel: Traffic accident on B100 ensures chaos!

On April 4, 2025, a serious traffic accident occurred on Drautal Straße (B100) near Stadelbach around 2.30 p.m. A 20-year-old man from Villach suffered a second sleep, which led to a collision with the vehicle of a 25-year-old woman from Spittal. According to klick-kaernten.at , both accident drivers remained unharmed, while the 52-year-old mother suffered injuries to his hands, back and neck.

The course of the accident describes that the young man steered on the left lane, which resulted in the collision with the oncoming car. The property damage is significant, both vehicles were classified as total damage. The B100 was closed for two hours during the accident recording and vehicle recovery. Firefighters, including the fire brigades Töplitz and Kellerberg with three vehicles and 29 comrades, were deployed, such as kaernten.orf.at reported.

The dangers of seconds sleep

Naupe sleep, a phenomenon that is characterized by short, uncontrollable naps at the wheel, represents a considerable risk in road traffic. According to estimates, about four percent of the racing dead in Austria are due to second sleep, although the number of unreported cases may be between 15 and 40 percent. This shows the urgency to deal with the causes of fatigue in road traffic, such as explains the press

Despite the dangers, fatigue and second sleep are often not recognized as the cause of the accident. In the previous year, 633 people lost their lives in road traffic in Austria, at 25 of them, fatigue was suspected as a possible cause. The number of traffic fatalities increases significantly, especially between zero and five in the morning. Studies from the AKH and the ÖAMTC are currently investigating how the risk of second sleep can be recognized at an early stage and whether short naps could possibly help.

preventive measures and technologies

In order to raise awareness of this topic, experts research the development of technologies that warn drivers in fatigue. The ÖAMTC has already started testing to check how people react to fatigue and which signals can indicate a reduced fitness to drive. Currently existing systems, such as those developed by Mercedes, aim to automatically identify break times and to address the drivers.

The tragedy of the accident on April 4 underlines the dangers that the second sleep brings. Comprehensive information and preventive measures are crucial to reduce the number of traffic accidents and increase the feeling of security on the streets.