thats really frightning considering i do a 13 hour night shift then get in my car and drive home after no sleep.
You have to be really careful if you work long hours/into the night - your reaction times and concentration are buggered - sometimes I finish work in the early hours of the morning after a really long day - I often find my biggest problem due to tiredness is remembering to brake for the speed cameras on the way back 
- I’m usually - ‘riding briskly’ 
- because the roads are empty and I want to go to bed - by the time I get on the motorway I’m in paranoia mode - wondering how fast I went past all the cameras - which buggers up my concentration even more.
(another example of why speed cameras are totally counter-productive and can cause accidents grrrr 
)
I used to drive London - Glasgow and back every 10 days.
First, I learnt not to do it in daytime - traffic can double your journey time.
Then I learnt to have a double espresso about half-way.
Shortly after that, I realised that being wired and tired was not good.
Finally, I understood that as soon as I began to feel tired, I could stop and catnap for 30 minutes or even an hour, and wake up feeling fine and complete the journey without problem.
Nowadays, mostly I bike to Luton and fly. But when I do take the bike I go during the day so that fatigue is less of an issue. The real problem with a bike is you can’t always find somewhere to have a snooze, especially if it’s raining!
Many, many times in the early hours I’ve seen other drivers go into ‘micro-sleep’ and weave across the lanes. This is most alarming, especially when it’s a lorry.
I’ve also experienced ‘micro-sleep’ at the wheel myself - and it’s highly alarming. It’s always tempting to push on when you feel tired, which is a good indication of how badly one’s judgement is affected.
Don’t do it. Sleep is lovely.
Years ago I did a 48 hour stint - kept awake with caffeine and pro-plus - rode the 30 odd miles home on the mway - bikes fuel tank kept morphing into a pillow 
.
Not recommended - won’t do it again etc. . .
i dont think i would ride my bike if i felt that tired. im always in the car when i have finished a night shift. not that that makes it any better:) but you are right you do forget about your brakes when you are tired.
Yeah its frightening. Way back when I was in the army I did a very long stint without sleep and then attempted to drive the three hours home for leave. With stops and walks round the car, bit of jumping up and down, alternating between windows all open and all closed, loud music etc etc I eventually made it home and had a really good sleep. Didnt think too much of it till I did the trip back and realised there were whole sections of the journey I couldnt remember.
First and last time I drove in a state like that.
I can feel those effects after 5x12 hours night shifts. When I’m on the road home on my bike at 6am, there is not alot of traffic.
And I rode my bike regardless the weather conditions, except last heavy snow.
i drive home at 8 in the morning. it feels like your body does not belong to you its a weird feeling.
If i’d been in a car I wouldn’t have attempted it as I would have fallen asleep - bikes definitely perk you up even when your tired - maybe you should try riding your Blade home instead of the cage!
This is an old video but shows how tiredness affects you quite well
I once forgot to put my feet down when I stopped at the lights… with interesting results. It was 0400 and I’d been at work since 1000 the day before!
I’ve also fallen asleep in the outside lane of the A2 in the evening rush hour, after my 5th 0600 start and 10+ hour day… luckily when I woke up, and all the traffic was stopped in front of me, I managed to f’filter’ between the lines of traffic… I had a little stop on the hard shoulder after that one…
Unfortunately I’ve worked ridiculously long hours loads of times and ridden or driven home… and quite a few of my colleagues (but no one I actually know) have been killed or seriously injured in similar circumstances 
Yes - the bbc article referred to the crazy shifts a lot of police officers have to do and how the resulting disrupted sleep patterns and deprivation has resulted in accidents.