The Dangers Presented by Truck Driver Fatigue

Many Americans fail to get enough sleep each night, and when people who get inadequate sleep get behind the wheel, they place themselves and others at risk. Drowsy truck drivers are especially problematic because of their vehicles’ large sizes and weights. Scroll down to learn more about the dangers of truck driver fatigue.

Accidents Caused by Truck Driver Fatigue

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one out of 25 people surveyed admitted they had fallen asleep behind the wheel at least once in the previous 30 days. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) partnered with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to conduct the Large Truck Crash Causation Study. The researchers reviewed data from 141,000 large truck collisions and found that 18,000, or 13%, of the trucks involved in fatal or injury collisions during the study period were at least partially caused by truck driver fatigue.

Why Is Truck Driver Fatigue Dangerous?

Researchers have found that drowsy driving can affect drivers similarly to drunk driving. Drowsy drivers have slower reaction times, exhibit poorer judgment, and have reduced motor skills compared to alert drivers. Truck drivers can be affected when they drive too long in one stretch or have not gotten enough sleep. The consequences of fatigue for truck drivers can be much more serious than for other motorists because of the disparity in the sizes of large trucks versus other vehicles traveling on the roads around them. Truck accidents are much more likely to result in fatalities or severe injuries than other types of collisions.

Factors Contributing to Fatigue-Related Trucking Collisions

The following factors can contribute to fatigue and increase the risk of collisions:

• Driving at Night: Truck drivers who drive at night have a higher risk of fatigue. Trucking collisions resulting from fatigue are more likely to occur between 12 am and 6 am. While some truck drivers prefer driving at night because of less traffic, not getting enough sleep can lead to accidents at night.
• Number of Hours Awake: Drivers who have not gotten enough sleep the night before are much more likely to be involved in drowsy-driving accidents. The National Sleep Foundation has found that drivers who have been awake for 18 hours show similar types of impairment as those with blood alcohol concentrations of 0.05%. For those who haven’t slept in 20 hours, the impairment level is similar to drivers who have blood alcohol concentrations of 0.08%.
• Sleep Apnea: Truck drivers who have sleep apnea and do not follow appropriate treatment protocols are much more likely to be involved in crashes. Researchers from the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health found that truck drivers with untreated sleep apnea had five times more preventable accidents than drivers who did not have sleep apnea and those who did but followed appropriate treatment protocols.
• Working on Rotating Schedules: Truck drivers commonly drive at varying times and do not have set schedules. Unfortunately, people who work on rotating schedules are much more likely to be involved in fatigue-related accidents because it is not always possible to get enough sleep between shifts.

Regulations Aimed at Reducing Fatigued Driving Among Truck Drivers

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has promulgated several regulations to reduce fatigued driving among truck drivers. Some of these regulations include the following:

• Hours of service rules
• Electronic logging device (ELD) mandate

Under the hours of service rules, drivers can’t work for more than 60 or 70 hours over seven or eight consecutive days. They also can’t work for more than 14 hours in a row, and only 11 of those hours can be spent behind the wheel. Once a driver finishes their workweek, they must have 34 consecutive hours off from work before they can return. Truck drivers are also supposed to take minimum rest breaks for every 8 hours of driving.

The ELD mandate requires drivers to have electronic logging devices installed in their trucks. These devices record when the trucks are in operation and how long drivers spend behind the wheel as well as other critical information.

When fatigued driving is suspected in a truck accident, the attorneys at Ellis & Associates investigate what happened and request documents and evidence from the carriers, including ELD logs and driver medical records, to see whether the driver might have violated the HOS rules or have a sleep disorder.

Talk to Ellis & Associates

If you were injured in a large truck collision and believe the driver might have been suffering from fatigue, you should speak to the truck accident lawyers at Ellis & Associates. Call us today for a free consultation at 800-MR-ELLIS.