The likelihood of crashing during a simulated post-work commute decreases across a week of consecutive night shifts

The aim of this study was to assess the effect of working multiple, consecutive night shifts on crash risk during the morning commute. Participants (36 F, 36 M, aged 23.1 ± 3.6 y) completed a laboratory-based shiftwork protocol with seven consecutive night shifts (23:00–07:00 h) that each started and ended with a 20 min simulated commute. Compared to the corresponding pre-work commutes, the likelihood of crashing during the post-work commutes was 11.0-, 8.5-, and 5.6-fold higher at the start, middle, and end of the week, respectively. The results of this simulation study indicate that crash risk is relatively high during the morning commute but declines throughout a week of night work. © 2020 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC