Covid-19 pandemic and fatal sleepiness-related motor vehicle accidents in Finland

BACKGROUND: During the Covid19 pandemic restrictions, overall traffic volume decreased in Finland. Fatigue and sleepiness while driving are common risks factors for fatal motor vehicle accidents. OBJECTIVE: We analyzed the effects of Covid19 pandemic restrictions on the number of Fatal sleepiness-related motor vehicle accidents (FSMVA) during and before the pandemic. METHODS: All fatal motor vehicle accidents during the years 2016-2022 were studied using Finnish Road Accidents data. Of the 1226 accidents, 235 formed FSMVA group and the others the control group. FSMVA values before the pandemic restrictions were compared with the values during the pandemic period. Statistical analysis was performed with Stata 18.5. RESULTS: The FSMVA proportion of fatal crashes before the pandemic period was 22.7%, and during the pandemic 13.4%(p < 0.001). The COVID years were significantly associated with a lower mortality rate (fatal accidents per million vehicle-kilometers) from FSMVA(p = 0.012). According to logistic regression, the probability of FSMVA was lower in the youngest age group (OR 0.6) and higher in the early morning (OR 2.0) and mid-morning (OR 1.7). Furthermore, the incidence of FSMVA increased when the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) was ≥0.5‰ (OR 2.2). During the pandemic, predictions of FSMVA decreased in the summer months (from 27% to 13%), in the early morning (from 38% to 16%) and in the afternoon (from 21% to 9%) compared to the pre-pandemic era. Furthermore, the FSMVA was observed to be less prevalent during the pandemic, particularly among individuals under the age of 25 (8% versus 21%). CONCLUSION: Proportion of fatal crashes and mortality rate of FSMVA decreased during the pandemic period compared to the pre-pandemic era. A possible explanation for the results may be the increase in remote work, which effectively reduced drowsy driving during pandemic era.