Aviation Health expert, Farrol Kahn, who took part in the research, described the importance of the findings:

“The study shows that air travel can exacerbate the tiredness of motorists and endanger road safety.  It establishes a direct link between flying and road safety." 

“The research has identified a new condition, Driver Lag, that can last up to a week post-flight.  Driver Lag has all the similar symptoms to jetlag and can affect all motorists irrespective of age, from 18 years old to those over 50, although younger motorists appear to be more at risk."

“A surprising factor is that while the symptoms may be more intense for long-haul passengers, Driver Lag still affects short-haul passengers as well.”

Ian Parker, Managing Director of Privilege Car Insurance, said:

“We know that many people experience negative physical symptoms and a change in their driving behaviour following a flight. Bearing in mind the number of people that drive to airports to catch holiday flights, we wanted to identify the impact of this on motorists.

“Our research shows that people may be putting themselves and their passengers at risk by getting straight into their cars after landing.  We are advising drivers to heed this warning, take plenty of rest before driving home or consider alternative transport such as a lift from friends or family or public transport.”

Notes:

Farrol Kahn, Director of the not-for-profit organisation Aviation Health, is an international authority on the effects of aviation on passenger health and is an expert to the European Union, US Congress and the World Health Organisation.  He is the author of four books on aviation health, including

YouGov surveyed 2,010 people online on behalf of Privilege Insurance between 8th and 12th July 2005.  According to the Census 2001, the adult population (18+) of Great Britain is 44,200,057

Of these, 71 per cent of respondents currently drive (31,382,040). Of these, 46 per cent claim to have suffered from at least one jet lag symptom in the week following their holiday (Source: NHS Direct). These are: Disturbed sleep patterns; sleepy during the day, but not able to sleep at night, disrupted digestion and bowel habits, feeling disorientated and/ or clumsy, loss of appetite, fatigue, lack of concentration/ feeling less alert, memory problems, loss of balance, nausea, visual problems, impaired spatial awareness, cold or flu-like symptoms, feeling weak and light-headed, lack of energy, disorientation, impatience, lethargy, depression and anxiety and less ability to handle stress. 46 per cent equates to 14,435,739 drivers.

14 per cent of those drivers who have been on holiday for more than four nights, who travelled abroad and flew home experienced an effect on their driving, this equates to 7.48 per cent of all drivers – giving a total of 1,080,550 drivers suffering from Driver Lag.

 Of those experiencing Driver Lag symptoms (1,080,550), 6 per cent have experienced an incident either in the car park of the airport or on the immediate drive home, equating to 64,833 incidents, such as stalling a vehicle, unintentionally going over the speed limit or drifting out of lane, etc.