If you nod off while curled up on the sofa binge watching your favourite show, there's no harm done, but behind the wheel of a car, the results could be horrific.

Transport for NSW's Centre for Road Safety puts driver fatigue in the top three killers on the state's roads.

Fatigue-related crashes are twice as likely to be fatal, according to the centre.

Drivers who are asleep can't hit the brakes. But this information is not new. For decades, government authorities have blitzed our newspapers and screens with hard-hitting ads as they try to bring down the road toll.

As drivers, we should have enough common sense to want to avoid taking unnecessary risks.

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Yet, year after year, we hear of horrific crashes which are believed to be due, at least in part, to driver fatigue.

If you drive a truck in Australia, you are subject to stringent conditions about the hours you can be behind the wheel and when you have to rest.

Car drivers face no similar regulation. They are free to travel for as long as they like without a break.

The expert advice is that drivers need to take a break every two hours. Trying to police this as a road rule would be impossible, and frankly it shouldn't be necessary.

As drivers, we should have enough common sense to want to avoid taking unnecessary risks.

All of those driver safety ads are right. No car trip is worth your life. We live in a busy world.

Every second person you pass on the street seems to be clutching a coffee cup and rushing from one appointment to the next.

But sometimes, we have to admit that our safety is still the number one priority and that there isn't always going to be something to help us do away with the need for sleep.

Nobody wants to become a road statistic, and there are simply no excuses for not heeding the expert advice to take the breaks.

Better late than never, as the saying goes.