Childhood car accident fuels Orange-Cabonne road safety officer’s fight to reduce driver fatigue
Andrea Hamilton-Vaughan was six years’ old when her father fell asleep behind the wheel of the family car.
In the crash that followed, Ms Hamilton-Vaughan and her sister Deborah were thrown through the windscreen.
She remembers lying in the middle of the road metres away from her sister, and a truck driver arriving at the scene.
All four family members survived, although Ms Hamilton-Vaughan’s father remained in hospital for six months with pelvis fractures.
Ms Hamilton-Vaughan said the accident was the strongest memory of her childhood.
“We were lucky and every time someone tells me about a driver fatigue crash, I acknowledge that I am a lucky survivor,” she said.
Launch of national campaign
The crash has led to a determination to reduce and, if possible, eradicate fatigue-related road accidents.
The latest data from Transport for NSW showed fatigue played a factor in 12.5 per cent of road fatalities in 2022, behind alcohol (12.8pc) and speed (40.6pc).
Ms Hamilton-Vaughan took on the role of road safety officer in Central West NSW 19 years ago.
In 2022, she launched National Driver Fatigue Week in partnership with the Orange and Cabonne councils and the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator.
“I think it makes me too passionate about my job because every life is sacred and I go out there and I fight for everyone to make them understand just how vulnerable they are on the road network,” Ms Hamilton-Vaughan said.
With extra traffic on the roads for the Easter long weekend, Transport for NSW has urged drivers to stick to the speed limit and take plenty of rest breaks.
“We definitely want everyone to take extra care as they’re out on the roads,” acting chief customer officer Roger Weeks said.
“The last thing we want is for people to get a little frustrated and end up having a crash.”
Power naps a good option
The key message behind Ms Hamilton-Vaughan’s campaign is to take a power nap — a short, 15-20-minute sleep — before getting behind the wheel.
“It’s all very well to say, ‘Get a good night’s sleep; take regular rest breaks,’ [but] there are so many pressures on us today, we need a solution and a power nap is a solution to driver fatigue,” Ms Hamilton-Vaughan said.
he wants to push the message that any driver can be affected by fatigue, no matter how much experience they have or how well they know the road.
“We don’t believe it’s going to happen to us … but the fact is, some days, the variables, the whole situation is different,” Ms Hamilton-Vaughan said.
A lifetime role
Ms Hamilton-Vaughan believes that, with a lot of hard work from motorists and policy makers, achieving zero deaths on Australian roads is possible.
“If somebody dies in Cabonne, I feel like I’ve failed. I shouldn’t feel that way … but I know we can prevent it. That’s the hard part,” she said.
“It’s not like some rare cancer where there’s no cure. There is a prevention and that prevention is available to us all.
“I can’t see giving it up, I really can’t. There are too many lives to be saved, but I can’t do it alone.”
