Driving While Exhausted is Deadly For Truck Drivers & Other Motorists

Each day commercial truck drivers spend many hours behind the steering wheel. Driver fatigue, also known as drowsy driving, is a common cause of traffic accidents involving commercial truck drivers. Despite federal laws that put a legal limit on the hours a commercial truck driver can drive per day, the pressure put on drivers to meet delivery schedules often causes them to drive while drowsy, and this puts truck drivers at risk of colliding with other vehicles.

Traffic safety advocates who are concerned about trucker safety, as well as the safety of other motorists, remind us that drivers who remain behind the wheel for many hours can become exhausted, leading to dangerous and sometimes accidents. It has been shown that driving while drowsy driving is similar to driving while impaired by drugs or alcohol. Some studies have shown that operating an 18-wheeler semi-truck with little sleep is just as dangerous as driving while intoxicated. Tragically, a lot of truck drivers have grown accustomed to driving while tired, and although most professional truck drivers are safe operators, there are several truckers who believe driving while fatigued is not a deadly risk.

It is crucial that all drivers know the signs of exhaustion before becoming a risk to themselves or other drivers. If a driver experiences the following signs and symptoms of fatigue, they should take a break.

• Trouble maintaining a constant thought.
• Heavy eyelids.
• Failing to obey a traffic signal or sign.
• Failing to remember the last couple of miles traveled.
• Difficulty keeping their head up.
• Restlessness
• Irritability
• Drifting out of a lane or into a rumble strip.

One of the potential dangers that some truck drivers commit is trying to stay awake by taking caffeine pills, running the air conditioning, or turning up the radio to fight fatigue. However, only sleep can provide the remedy, and the stakes are too high to continue to drive while drowsy.

In many cases, it is the trucking company’s fault for their drivers driving drowsy. Truck drivers are often put in the position of driving their tractor-trailer trucks while fatigued due to unreasonable delivery schedules. To combat this issue, the federal government passed hours of service laws limiting how long a truck driver can operate their vehicle in one day. Truck drivers should understand that if their employer pressures them to violate hours of service laws, their employer is engaging in a legal violation, and drivers are able to anonymously report these offenses to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). In the event of a commercial truck crash, you must speak with one of our tractor-trailer truck accident attorneys about your legal rights and options.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration published accident data which revealed that 27% of fatal truck accidents occurred on interstates and 78% of fatal truck accidents transpired on weekdays. Judging by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s crash statistics, drivers should pay more attention to trucks along interstates, during the week, and in rural areas to decrease their chances of being in a deadly truck accident.

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