Assessing how physical and mental fatigue affect driving speed on the Banda Aceh–Medan highway, Indonesia

Yusria Darma; Sofyan Saleh; Juliana Fisaini; Sugiarto Sugiarto; Puteri Rezeki Saida; Faiza Mauladea

doi:10.55329/titw8527

Authors

Yusria Darma Syiah Kuala University, Indonesia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7758-1443
Sofyan Saleh Syiah Kuala University, Indonesia
Juliana Fisaini Syiah Kuala University, Indonesia
Sugiarto Sugiarto Syiah Kuala University, Indonesia
Puteri Rezeki Saida Syiah Kuala University, Indonesia
Faiza Mauladea Syiah Kuala University, Indonesia https://orcid.org/0009-0009-8616-210X

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55329/titw8527

Keywords:

accident risk, driving speed, fatigue assessment, low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), South-eastern Asia

Abstract

This study was motivated by the relatively high number of traffic accidents along Banda Aceh–Medan highway, where driver fatigue has been repeatedly cited as the key contributing factor. The research aimed to determine the extent to which physical and mental fatigue influence driving speed behavior on this long-distance route. A quantitative survey was conducted with 400 drivers, both professional and private, using the validated fatigue scales and Structural Equation Modeling for the data analysis. The results indicated that physical fatigue negatively affects speed stability, while mental fatigue significantly increases speed variability. Nevertheless, both physical and mental fatigue explaining 57.8% of the variance in driving speed. These findings highlight the dual cognitive and physiological dimensions of fatigue, emphasizing its role in impaired speed regulation and increased accident risk. This study contributes to existing knowledge by quantifying the distinct effects of physical and mental fatigue on driving performance in a real-world setting, thereby offering empirical support for targeted fatigue management interventions on long-distance routes.

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Author Biographies

Yusria Darma, Syiah Kuala University, Indonesia

Yusria Darma is a civil engineer and transportation researcher actively involved in transport planning and road safety related research and projects. He is also part of the road safety auditing team for roads and expressways. His research interests include road traffic accident analysis, road safety audits, and transport planning, with academic qualifications from Universitas Syiah Kuala and the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur.

CRediT contribution: Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Supervision, Writing—review & editing.

Sofyan Saleh, Syiah Kuala University, Indonesia

Sofyan Saleh earned his Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Universitas Syiah Kuala (USK) and completed his postgraduate studies at the Technical University of Denmark in 1993. He obtained his Doctoral degree from the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) in 2009 and currently serves as the Vice Dean for Planning and Cooperation at Universitas Syiah Kuala. His research focuses on highway engineering and transportation system studies.

CRediT contribution: Methodology, Validation.

Juliana Fisaini, Syiah Kuala University, Indonesia

Juliana Fisaini graduated from Civil Engineering Department, Universitas Syiah Kuala, in 2012, she had worked as a junior engineer for two years before pursuing her master degree in Civil Engineering Department (Transport Engineering) at Institut Teknologi Bandung in 2014. During her master in ITB, she spent two semester in University of Bremen, Germany, which was hosted by BIBA – Bremer Institut für Produktion und Logistik GmbH as a visiting researcher.

CRediT contribution: Formal analysis, Project administration.

Sugiarto Sugiarto, Syiah Kuala University, Indonesia

Sugiarto Sugiarto earned his B.Eng. from Syiah Kuala University, M.Eng. from the Asian Institute of Technology (Thailand), and Dr.Eng. from Nagoya University (Japan). He is a Professor of Transport Modeling, Planning, and Policies at the Department of Civil Engineering, Syiah Kuala University. His research focuses on travel behaviour analysis, transport policy, sustainable transport planning, and traffic safety.

CRediT contribution: Software, Validation.

Puteri Rezeki Saida, Syiah Kuala University, Indonesia

Puteri Rezeki Saida is a Master’s student in Civil Engineering at Syiah Kuala University. Her thesis focuses on road safety analysis and improvement. She has a strong interest in transportation engineering, particularly in traffic safety and planning.

CRediT contribution: Data curation, Investigation, Software.

Faiza Mauladea, Syiah Kuala University, Indonesia

Faiza Mauladea is a fresh graduate from the Master of Engineering programme of the Department of Civil Engineering at Universitas Syiah Kuala. She focuses on the field of transportation engineering, especially in traffic and road systems. Her thesis was centered on road safety analysis, highlighting her interest in improving transportation safety.

CRediT contribution: Project administration, Visualization, Writing—original draft.

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