Sleepy is Deadly: How Fatigue Affects Road Safety

Posted on March 2, 2010
Filed Under Car and Auto Accidents |

Truck driving is one of the trickiest jobs that a person can take. Carrying a huge load on such a huge vehicle and over long distances is not an easy feat, and the driver will need to exert considerable effort to stay alert and avoid fatigue. But in fact, truck accidents do happen because of the inability to conquer driving fatigue. Not only are lives on the road at stake, but also the very business that the truck driver maintains through this daring job. It becomes an important task to identify the causes that lead to driver fatigue.

Sleep Deprivation

With the extraordinary work hours that truck drivers keep, lacking enough rest or sleep is a very high possibility. Driving over long distances with deadlines to keep can pressure truckers to keep going long after their bodies have been spent. Such scenarios encourage continuous sleep deprivation, impairing performance of a variety of tasks inherent to the truck driving business, including operating equipment (i.e., the truck) and staying alert on the road. As well, the “2 a.m. slump”, the period from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. during which a person runs a higher risk of fatiguing, has been the cause of many accidents.

Counterproductive Federal Policy

But instead of arguing on the side of truck drivers and general road safety, the opposite seems to be happening. Perhaps in response to calls for longer hours of service for the trucking industry, Congress has been passing legislation that increase truckers’ work hours on the road, for example, Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations. The law allows Interstate truck drivers to drive 11 hours in a work period. A study by the National Central University in Taiwan has shown that 80 minutes of non-stop driving can make motorists dangerous on the roads.

Sleepy Is Deadly

While the statistics of driver fatigue-related crashes is underrepresented, it is believed that it is the cause of 20 to 24 percent of vehicular accidents.  A study by the Adelaide Centre for Sleep Research also shows that drivers who have had no sleep for 24 hours exhibit the driving performance of an intoxicated person with blood alcohol content of 0.1g/100ml. In the United States, the National Transportation Safety Board has observed that 52 percent of 107 single-vehicle accidents involving big trucks are fatigue-related and estimates that about 56,000 sleep-related road crashes occur annually in the USA.

This article is intended solely for general information purposes. The content should not be considered and is not legal advice.

Visit the Texas truck accident law firm website of Gordon & Elias, LLP for more information.

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