The morning school run coincides with the highest risk period for driver fatigue on New Zealand roads, according to new fleet safety data covering thousands of commercial vehicles nationwide.
Data from the 2025 Guardian New Zealand Insights Report, released by AutoSense, shows the highest rate of verified driver fatigue events occurs between 7am and 8am — overlapping with the start of the school run when parents, school buses and commercial fleet vehicles are sharing the road network.
The report draws on data from nearly 6000 Guardian by Seeing Machines cameras installed in commercial vehicles across New Zealand. It shows fatigue risk remains elevated throughout the broader morning peak from 4am to 10am, increasing the likelihood of interaction between fatigued professional drivers and families travelling to school.
Over the past year, the system recorded 19,336 human-verified fatigue events across New Zealand commercial fleets, triggering an average of 53 driver wake-up interventions every day.
AutoSense fatigue consultant Katrina Aubrey says the findings reflect human physiology rather than unsafe driving behaviour.
“The 7 to 8 am window sits within a well-known low point in alertness,” Aubrey says.
“When that vulnerability overlaps with the school run – higher traffic, time pressure, children and buses – even brief lapses in attention can carry serious risk.”
The report places the school run within a period of heightened microsleep risk. A microsleep is defined as a lapse in attention lasting 1.5 seconds or longer, during which a driver temporarily loses situational awareness.
The data also shows clear day-of-week patterns. Tuesdays accounted for 23% of all verified fatigue events and 18.5% of distraction events, making it the highest-risk day on New Zealand roads, contrary to the assumption that fatigue peaks later in the working week.
Seasonal trends further amplify risk. Fatigue rates peaked in August and September, while January and February recorded the lowest levels, reinforcing a winter and early-spring risk cycle that may be linked to reduced daylight hours, colder conditions and disrupted sleep.
The Guardian Insights Report analysed data covering 442 million kilometres driven and more than 9.4 million driving hours, capturing 983,750 risky driving events. These included 19,336 fatigue events and 51,597 distraction events.
The dataset is used by fleet operators including Mainfreight and Foodstuffs North Island, as well as insurers and policymakers.
AutoSense chief executive Charles Dawson says human oversight remains critical.
“Behind the numbers and technology sits a very human safety layer,” Dawson says.
“In the past year alone, the Guardian call centre made more than 14,000 real-time intervention calls to New Zealand fleet operators, stepping in when fatigue or distraction was detected and interrupting risk before it could escalate.”
“Every alert is reviewed by trained human analysts – we call them our Guardian Angels – which gives fleets and insurers confidence that these are real events on real roads, not just automated alerts.”
While mobile phone use remains a concern, the data shows most distraction incidents stem from other in-cab behaviours. Mobile phone use accounted for 14,575 events, or 28% of distraction incidents, while the remaining 72% were linked to activities such as adjusting audio settings, managing playlists or looking away from the road.
Dawson says reducing risk during everyday driving moments is critical.
“Behind every data point is a person with a family waiting for them at home,” he says.
“If we can help reduce fatigue and distraction during the most routine moments — like the morning school run — then we’re doing something that genuinely matters: helping drivers, and everyone around them, get home safely.”
The Guardian New Zealand Insights Report 2025 covers the 12-month period from July 1 to June 30 and is available at autosense.co.nz/nz-guardian-insights.
