Articles Tagged with Driver Fatigue

Sleepiness is just as risky to a driver as drinking and driving. Being sleepy is dangerous to drivers and other people driving, biking, or walking on the road. Just like alcohol, being sleepy slows the driver’s reaction time, decreases one’s awareness of one’s surroundings, increases the risk of having an accident, and impairs one’s judgment.

Investigators find it impossible to prove with certainty that a crash was caused by sleepy driving, especially in a fatality; however, there are several clues to look for at the scene of the crash that can tell the investigators that sleep was a factor. For example, if only one vehicle was involved, if the injuries are fatal, or if there is a suspicious lack of evasive maneuvers or skid marks.

As a Sacramento Truck Accident lawyer with over 30 years of experience, I have handled hundreds of trucking negligence cases, many of which involve driver fatigue or truck drivers falling asleep at the wheel. According to the National Highway Safety Administration,  there are 100,000 crashes, 71,000 injuries and 1550 deaths a year caused by fatigued drivers or by drivers who fall asleep at the wheel.

12 AM-6AM and 2PM-4PM are the time periods when most of these accidents happen. Most of these accidents happen because of trucker’s irregular and shorter sleep patterns. It is estimated that Trucker’s sleep 2 hours less per day than the population at large. A trucker awake for more than 18 hours has the same driving capacity as someone with a blood alcohol factor of .08. (Legally drunk in most states).

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