Commander of Traffic and Highway Patrol Command, Assistant Commissioner John Hartley launched the program in Orange on Monday 

The program is aimed at finding new ways to encourage school holiday drivers to manage fatigue by breaking their journey.

“Fatigue is a contributing factor in many fatal crashes, particularly in regional and rural areas,” Assistant Commissioner Hartley said.

“We support any initiative that encourages drivers to take regular rest breaks, because if everyone heeded this advice, we’d see a lot less road trauma.”

Fatigue crashes accounted for over 15 per cent (428) of all crashes in the participating council areas between the years of 2008 - 2012.

The highest number of fatigue crashes occurred in Cabonne (62), closely followed by Dubbo and Lithgow (58 each) and Narrabri (51). 

Stretching from Lithgow to Moree and beyond the campaign will run from March 3 to May 31 to include the Easter long weekend and the April school holidays. 

Orange and Cabonne road safety officer, Andrea Hamilton-Vaughan said the campaign complements the driver reviver program. 

“Free cuppa for the driver booklets, which identify every participating business, will be available in local caravan parks, motels and Visitor Information Centres throughout each of the 13 local government areas,” she said.

Thirteen local councils and 51 businesses across the region are coming together, to implement the award winning scheme, which has continued to develop and expand since it began in 2010. 

The free cuppa for the driver campaign is an initiative of the participating councils’ Road Safety Program.