Remember Selby? Driver (allegedly) fell asleep, vehicle & trailer went down the embankment onto railway line. Hit by a train - passengers on train were killed.
Driver was charged with causing death by dangerous driving after the prosecution showed he had spent all night on the internet before driving: i.e. he'd not been properly rested. He went to prison for many years for a relatively minor action/omission (inattention/sleep) which resulted in a catastrophe.
If you fall asleep while driving and cause an accident the police will now almost certainly charge you with dangerous driving. It used to be 'careless driving' (also known as 'without due care & attention') but the Crown Prosecution Service are now pushing for the 'Dangerous Driving' charge. The (draconian) view is that if you're driving and start to feel tired you ought to pull over and take a nap. Pressing on then becomes 'reckless'. In the real world or course it's not that simple, but it won't stop you facing a jail term if convicted.
Those who sit in rush-hour traffic, barely awake after a 4 sector day that started with a 3.30am alarm had better have a good story ready should, God forbid, anything happen on the way home. The same thing goes for the drive into work and, for all those exceeding 90 minutes each way, you're probably in breach of your ops manual (and jar ops). Nobody cares until there is an incident, or worse. Then the lawyers will have a field day.
Of course, Chief Pilots and Ops Directors will claim no knowledge of individual circumstances and, hands wringing, will point to the rules. Likewise the CAA and the DfT. The $h*t will stick to you, not them. It never does. Forget the fatigue-inducing minimum-rest rostering - they've got you by the ball$ if there's an incident and you're regularly travelling in excess of 90 minutes.
I don't claim to have a simple answer - just a warning.
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