Georgia Injury Law Blog

News coming in has confirmed a deadly truck accident this morning in Valdosta in Lowndes County. Apparently, four people have died in the accident that involved a car and a rental truck on I-75. The crash happened early this morning at about 2:30.  

It's a tragic start to the four-day long Georgia Highway Patrol crackdown that will last over the Fourth of July weekend. The crackdown begins at 6 pm today. Georgia Highway Patrol is expecting that there will be 22 fatalities in accidents over the weekend, which will end on July fifth. Law enforcement officers are gearing up for special anti drunk driving and speeding crackdowns to keep drunk drivers and dangerous speeders off the road. This will include special checkpoints around the state and additional patrolling.

The Fourth of July holiday sees the largest number of accident-related fatalities for a single day each year, and Georgia Highway Patrol, in spite of the crackdown, will be expecting no different this year. With the holiday traveling set to begin in full earnest on Thursday evening, Georgia car accident lawyers would encourage motorists to be careful out there.

• Avoid drinking and driving
• If you are out on our own and in no condition to drive, call for a cab or ask someone to drop you home
• If you are out with friends, make sure you designate a sober driver for the evening. Some cities have designated driver facilities that allow you to call for a driver to drop you and your fellow revelers home. Use these.
• Drive at posted speed limits or even slower, depending on the congested traffic conditions.
• It helps to keep in mind that more people die in accidents on the Fourth of July than any other day of the year. Keep in mind that there will be several brash motorists who may be intoxicated, on drugs, or may be speeding to get to a party.  

Posted By Lisa Siegel In Truck Accidents | 0 Comments Permalink

A recent highway safety agenda unveiled by the American Trucking Associations has 18 points that are sure to make Georgia truck accident attorneys every happy indeed.

The trucking group outlined the points on the agenda at a news conference at Capitol Hill. The program includes a set of comprehensive measures, including steps aimed at enhancing the performance of drivers, safer trucks and safer vehicles to prevent truck accidents.  

The agenda includes:

• Training drivers to minimize driver distractions
• Implementation of stricter licensing testing standards for commercial truck drivers
• Research into behaviors of individuals between 18 and 25 years to be used for a graduated commercial truck driver licensing system
• Maximum speed limit of 65mph for all motor vehicles
• More long term parking, as well as parking spaces in areas where there is a shortage of truck parking space
• Seatbelt use promotion
• Implementation of safety and awareness programs targeting passenger car drivers and truck drivers
• Speed enforcement in high risk zones
• Graduated drivers licensing for teen motorists
• Support for anti drunk driving measures
• Speed limiters on trucks of drivers convicted of driving offences
• Speed limits on class 7 and 8 trucks manufactured after 1992
• Better crashworthiness standards for new class 7 and 8 trucks
• Effective communication between employers and states
• National database of driver drug and alcohol test results
• A national registry of certified medical examiners
• Availability of a Driver Information Resource
• Safety training classes for new motor carrier owners

We are extremely pleased with the points on the agenda, especially those that relate to drunk truck drivers, a national database for employers to access truckers' drug and alcohol test results and awareness programs for both passenger vehicle drivers as well as commercial truckers. There is a definite need for making motorists aware of safe driving around tractor trailers. Too many truckers and motorists are killed in Georgia every year because of negligent driving by a motorist. However, we wish the agenda had made some mention of driver fatigue - which is an important factor in truck accidents - and looked at steps that could help minimize the risk of accidents from truckers who doze off at the wheel.

Posted By Lisa Siegel In Truck Accidents | 0 Comments Permalink

A motorist from Winder in Barrow County has died in a multi vehicle truck accident that involved at least three commercial trucks. Four other people were injured in the accident that took place on the 5^th  of June.

As Robert McIlwain began to slow down for traffic on I-85, his Honda CRV was struck by a tractor trailer. According to state patrol, the driver of the tractor trailer, Thomas Terry failed to notice that traffic was slowing down, and struck the guard rail before crashing into the CRV. The Honda CRV was pushed into the path of a second tractor trailer, and then overturned. McIlwain died from his injuries.

Terry then struck a 2004 Dodge Dakota before it overturned into a median. The Dakota was pushed into a third tractor trailer that had stopped for traffic. In all, four people were injured in the accident, including Terry.

One of the trucks involved in the multi-vehicle crash was apparently carrying potassium hydroxide, which is considered a hazardous chemical. There was no spillage, but Georgia Environmental Protection Division and clean up personnel were called to the scene to ensure that any dangers were contained.

The Georgia State Patrol is investigating the accident, and has not yet confirmed, if any charges will be filed in the truck accident

Tractor trailer drivers have a lower speed limit than motorists. Part of the reason for this is that these large trucks take a much longer time to come to a complete stop than smaller vehicles do. In fact, a tractor trailer can travel several dozens of feet after the brakes are applied to come to a complete stop. That’s why a truck driver must take into consideration not just trucking speed limits, but also traffic conditions while driving.  

Operating a tractor trailer comes with special and unique challenges, and drivers must be aware of their responsibilities on the highways. As Georgia truck accident lawyers know all too well, errors by a truck driver can be disastrous for motorists on the highway.     

Posted By Lisa Siegel In Truck Accidents | 0 Comments Permalink

A new piece of legislation gives Georgia truck accident lawyers and families of victims who have died in accidents caused by drunk or pharmaceutically impaired truck drivers, plenty of cause for cheer. The legislation would set up a national database of commercial vehicle drivers' alcohol and drug test results.

The legislation called The Safe Roads Act, has been introduced by Senators Mark Prior, D-Arkansas, Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, Ben Nelson, D-Nebraska and Roger Wicker, R-Mississippi. It will authorize $5 million every year to develop the database, and mandate trucking companies and medical review officers to report positive drug and alcohol test results to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Employers will be required to check the database, and make sure that the driver they plan to hire, does not have a history of substance use.

Drug and alcohol testing is mandatory for commercial trucking companies. A company is required under law to conduct a drug test before a driver begins duty. In spite of this, far too many truck drivers continue to drive tractor trailers and buses after testing positive for drug and alcohol use. The system has too many loopholes to prevent such drivers from slipping through the cracks. For instance, a company could fail to verify the employee's drug history. Applicants may not report their testing history accurately to new employers.

According to commercial driver data, the number of drivers who test positive for drugs in random testing is between 1.3 and 2.8 percent. That’s too large a number for truck accident lawyers to stomach. Too many motorists are placed at risk when there is a drunk driver at the helm of a tractor trailer.

Substance abuse by drivers is an important factor in trucking accidents. Truckers may use stimulants and poppers to stay awake for long hours. These stimulants, including Amphetamines and Methamphetamines, can cause a feeling of alertness and wakefulness among drivers, but can have serious side effects. There may be coordination problems that affect driving abilities. As the drug effects begin to wear off, the driver can slowly return to an even more fatigued state than he was in before he took the stimulants.

With a database like this, trucking companies in Georgia will have no excuse for hiring drivers without a clean record.

Posted By Lisa Siegel In Truck Accidents | 0 Comments Permalink

Interstate 85 in Coweta County has been an accident magnet for the past several weeks because of the construction work going on there in both northbound and southbound lanes. Several truck accidents have been reported. The construction work has meant that traffic rules are being broken at random.  Truck drivers and motorists, highway authorities complain, are not sticking to the reduced speed limits now posted in the zone. It's not just traffic police and highway officials who are concerned about the several accidents that have taken place, but also construction workers hard at work on the road.

In an example of what highway authorities are so concerned about, a tractor trailer and a tanker truck collided at the construction zone , resulting in an explosion and fire at the scene. The wheels of the tractor trailer apparently slid off the edge of the payment, and the driver, in a panic, overcorrected, colliding with a tanker nearby. The tanker truck was pushed into a construction barrier wall that had been erected to protect workers. The collision damaged the fuel tank of the tanker truck, and it caught fire. Both the tractor trailer and tanker truck drivers suffered injuries. No other vehicles were involved in the crash. A nearby school was partially evacuated as a precautionary measure, although no students were injured. The initial panic when the tanker truck exploded led to rumors that smaller vehicles had been caught in the collision, but that wasn’t true. All lanes on I-85 were closed for several hours after the accident.

Transportation officials are appealing to motorists to take great care while driving through the construction zone. The construction work is expected to continue for the rest of the year, and conditions on the highway will continue to be dangerous. Officials are asking motorists to use other routes to get to their destination if possible. In spite of lower speed limits, there have been too many instances of speeding drivers causing accidents in the area. Reckless motorists continue to drive at excessive speeds, and there are too few law enforcement officers at the scene to crack down on speeding motorists. The conditions on the road are  even worse when it rains.

The drivers of the tanker truck, the tractor trailer and other motorists in the area were extremely fortunate that there were no fatalities or injuries in this accident. As Georgia truck accident lawyers, we've seen our share of accidents that quickly lead to an explosion and an inferno after fuel tanks explode or fuel spills onto the highway, only to be ignited. An explosion and a fire could easily have consumed smaller vehicles or construction workers standing nearby. While the revised traffic rules for the construction zone on I-85 hold true for all, they are especially important for truck drivers who should be especially careful while using that stretch of highway.  

Posted By Lisa Siegel In Truck Accidents | 0 Comments Permalink

Thousands of motorists continue to be at risk from truck accidents caused by truckers who are just too sick to drive. That terrifying fact comes to us via a report by a television station which claims that tens of thousands of truck drivers continue to be able to drive, despite suffering from a variety of ailments that should actually keep them away from the wheel.

Under trucking laws, drivers are expected to be able to produce a copy of their medical certificate that certifies that the driver is medically fit to be behind the wheel of a large commercial truck. However, far too many drivers are getting by with phony medical certificates. The process of obtaining a fake medical certificate is so easy it's almost a joke. Blank certificates are available from the government website, and all a far-from-fit driver has to do is download a blank copy which he can then fill out himself, and sign. Verification methods are notoriously hard with the result that these drivers manage to smoothly and easily slip through the cracks. An investigation last year revealed that out of every three medical certificates produced at truck inspection stops, one could not be verified.

It's not just the kind of deceit going on that should alarm Atlanta truck accident lawyers, but also the scale. According to a federal report last year, there are more than 560,000 truck drivers who are also currently receiving full medical-disability payments. That means there are 560,000 truck drivers with a valid commercial driver's license who are not in any condition to be driving a large vehicle.

According to trucker health experts, drivers who work long hours, sleep little, eat possibly unhealthy and high fat food during their meal breaks and spend lonely hours from their families are more likely to be at risk for lifestyle dieses like heart disease. Besides cardiac diseases, truckers also suffer from neurological disorders and sleep apnea, a condition in which there are frequent disturbances in sleep. People who suffer from sleep apnea are more likely to be tired and fatigued the next day, and consequently, nod off at the wheel.

This state of affairs hopefully will not continue for long. By 2012, federal authorities expect to have a national database of truck drivers up and running. Copies of medical certificates of all truck drivers will be included in the accessible database. Besides, there are also plans to have examiners file an electronic report besides a medical certificate for each truck driver they examine. This measure could help control the rampant manipulation of the system that seems to be going on here.

Posted By Lisa Siegel In Truck Accidents | 0 Comments Permalink

A truck driver in Georgia is being feted for completing two million miles of driving his truck without a single accident. Ken Truman of Gray in Jones County is a driver with Con-Way Freight Company where he has been working since 1988. According to Con-Way, Truman is the 88^th driver in the history of the company to complete the two million accident-free miles benchmark. That is a remarkable achievement when you consider that the company currently employs 1200 drivers, and has had several more drivers over the last 25 years.

So, what does the super truck driver credit for his unblemished record? According to Truman, it's the combination of paying attention to detail, avoiding speeding, and being alert to the movement of other vehicles around you. It’s a simple mantra, and one you wish every truck driver on Georgia’s highways would follow. Truman also prepares thoroughly for his day at work. He studies the weather report, and checks his truck and trailers to make sure that all components, including the tires, lights and brakes are functioning properly. A large truck can weigh up to 80,000 pounds and this huge weight can cause truck components and parts to wear out quickly. When this happens, then they have to be replaced as soon as possible or they can malfunction. That’s why constant maintenance of a truck by the trucking company is so important. Drivers also need to do a complete check of all truck components to ensure they are in perfect condition before getting behind the wheel.

Driver fatigue is another major factor behind several major truck accidents in Georgia. Like Truman says, getting enough rest is imperative for a truck driver who can expect to drive many long and lonely miles. A truck driver who has been overworked is likely to doze off at the wheel with disastrous consequences for other vehicles on the road.

Besides, drivers must avoid other negligent driving behaviors that are dangerous even for passenger car drivers, and even more so for large truck drivers. For instance, a speeding truck can take twice as long to brake to a halt as a passenger car. It’s amazing how many truck drivers forget this cardinal rule. A driver at the helm of a massive 18-wheeler simply doesn’t have the luxury of rushing through traffic, no matter how much of a hurry he is in. Unfortunately, truck drivers are constantly under pressure from their employers to deliver loads quicker, causing them to ignore safety practices.

At our Atlanta truck accident lawyer firm, we often see the devastating impact that a truck accident can have on the other vehicles involved. As Mr. Ken Truman proves, these accidents are preventable if drivers take precautions to drive a truck efficiently and safely.

Posted By Lisa Siegel In Truck Accidents | 0 Comments Permalink

Law enforcement officers in Lowndes and Cook Counties launched the Georgia TACT (Targeting Aggressive Cars and Truck) program on February 23^rd. The G-TACT program is a traffic safety awareness campaign that aims at reducing the number of large truck accidents on our highways. Motorists driving passenger vehicles are taught to identify the dangers they face when they share the road with an 18-wheeler. The enforcement program continued through the week, and included I–75 and a few other areas that were chosen because of the high number of truck accidents in these. The enforcement included car and truck drivers engaging in dangerous behavior like tailgating, recklessly changing lanes, failure to signal and speeding.

A total of 365 big rig - passenger car accidents occurred in these areas over a 3-year period, resulting in 389 injuries and 20 deaths as a result.  Out of the total number of highway deaths that occur in Georgia every year, 15% are caused because of commercial motor vehicles - passenger car collisions. In an overwhelming majority of these crashes, the fatalities are occupants of the smaller car.

Collisions between 18-wheelers and smaller passenger cars can have a disastrous impact on the occupants of the car. These massive commercial trucks can weigh up to 80,000 pounds, and a smaller vehicle has minimal chance of escaping damage when it is involved in an accident with a truck of this size. The rules of the road change dramatically when you're sharing the road with an 80,000 pound machine. Speeding or other negligent behaviors like using a cell phone can be doubly dangerous when you're anywhere close to a large truck. Always maintain enough space between the car and the truck, and keep in mind that the truck driver because of his position may not be able to see you. Be alert to any signals or signs that the truck driver, makes signifying his intent to turn etc. Avoid tailgating a large truck at all costs.

Truck drivers on their part must avoid reckless behaviors like speeding, drunk driving or cell phone use. In case of an accident, a truck driver can place more than one motorist on the road at risk for injuries.

Atlanta Truck Accident Lawyers

Our Atlanta truck accident lawyer firm regularly represents truck accident victims in DeKalb County and elsewhere in Georgia. Contact an Atlanta truck accident attorney at our firm if you have any questions about pursuing claims in a truck accident case. 

Posted By Lisa Siegel In Truck Accidents | 0 Comments Permalink

If you have been involved in an accident or crash with a tractor-trailer or a bus, the statistics reveal the driver may have been medically impaired. The Associated Press reported today that it obtained an advance copy of a Government Accounting Office report showing that over 500,0000 of the country’s commercial truck drivers also qualify for full federal medical disability payments. Over a thousand drivers had vision, hearing and seizure disorders.

As far back as 2001, safety regulators advised the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the government office responsible for regulating commercial truck and bus drivers, that reforms must be undertaken to insure that those carrying commercial drivers licenses are medically fit to drive.

In 2006, the federal Transportation Department issued 7.3 million commercial driving citations for violating federal medical rules. Twelve states, one of which was Georgia, accounted for over half of the violations.

Hundreds of deaths and injuries have been blamed on drivers blacking out, collapsing or having a heart attack behind the wheel of a forty-ton vehicle. In 2006, fifty-three hundred people died in crashes involving commercial trucks or buses, and over one hundred thousand people were injured. The leading cause of crashes involving large commercial trucks was physical impairment of the truck driver.    

The chief safety officer for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration blames delays on the lack of federal funds and difficulty coordinating safety regulations in fifty states.

Congressional hearings on this topic will feature testimony involving some of the following:

• A Florida bus driver who suffers from lung disease that causes him to occasionally “black out and forget things.” He works as a substitute bus driver despite not having a medical certificate. He has collected social security disability since 1994.
• A Virginia truck driver with a prosthetic leg who is permitted to drive tanker trucks even though he lacks proper paperwork for amputees.
• A Missouri truck driver’s employer who paid $18 million in a tort settlement after its diabetic driver crashed his 70,000 pound tractor-trailer into traffic on an interstate, killing four women. The driver had a diabetic episode that put him into an altered state of consciousness.
• Victims of a gasoline tanker driver who had a heart attack while driving, causing the tanker to plunge over an overpass in Maryland, killing four people.
• Parents of children injured and killed when the driver of a 15-passenger day-care bus crashed into a bridge, killing the driver and four children on board when the driver with a sleep disorder fell asleep at the wheel.
• New Orleans victims of a 55-passenger bus that crashed, killing 22 people when the driver suffered a heart attack. He had been treated for heart problems 20 times in the last two years.

Interestingly, the federal Americans with Disabilities Act paved the road of driving while disabled. The Commercial Vehicle Training Association reports that a man with a cerebral-palsy impaired gait was awarded $90,000 in damages under the ADA when he was refused admittance in an interstate trucking firm’s driver training program. The ADA allows workers to seek “reasonable accommodations”.   Due to those accommodations, many drivers with disabilities are driving multi-ton vehicles on interstates today.

According to many truckers associations, in the past the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration did not approve any commercial drivers licenses (“CDLs”) for persons with diabetes, loss of a limb, or sleep disorders. However, the Diabetes Association and other groups protested, arguing that drivers under a doctor’s care could and should be allowed to drive if their conditions were under control.

This year, the Ninth Circuit, ruled on a class action involving hearing-impaired job applicants suing United Parcel Service under the ADA. The potential drivers claimed they were discriminated against when UPS refused to hire them as drivers because their hearing impairment failed to qualify them under US DOT standards for drivers of vehicles over 10,000 pounds.   The Ninth Circuit agreed that the drivers were discriminated against and sent the case back to the district court. 

Thus, in an effort to protect the rights of the disabled, many unsuspecting travellers on the road today are put at risk. Perhaps, trucking companies are forced to weigh the costs of being sued for violating ADA laws against the risks of potential tort injury or rising insurance costs as a result of hiring a medically-impaired driver.

One thing appears to be clear. The federal agencies designed to ensure highway safety are failing in that job. 

Be careful on the roadways. 

And if you or someone you love is involved in an accident with a commercial vehicle, contact the law firm of Robert N. Katz for a free, private consultation. We can help.  

Posted By Lisa Siegel In Truck Accidents | 0 Comments Permalink

April has been a bad month for school bus accidents. We covered this subject in March when a Cherokee County school bus overturned and several students were taken to area hospitals. Since then, school bus accidents continue to be the subject of local news programs across the country. Many students suffered serious personal injuries as a result.

Monday morning of this week, two Pope High School students were injured when a car, driven by a teenage driver, ran up on the sidewalk and struck them. A fifteen-year-old girl was flown by helicopter to Children’s Hospital at Scottish Rite and is in critical condition. A seventeen-year-old boy was taken to Kennestone Hospital and treated and released.

The driver of the Jeep, Corey O’Connell, was driving northbound when a Nissan Maxima stopped in front of him to make a left-hand turn. He did not see the stopped car in time, swerved onto the sidewalk, and ran over a fire hydrant and an electrical box before striking the students with his vehicle. He has been charged with following too closely and failure to maintain his lane. 

Earlier this month in Cleveland, Ohio, several students were injured in a runaway bus accident. The children were students at the Arts Academy in Cleveland being chartered on a school field trip. The bus driver, Michael P. Weir, stopped the bus at a gasoline station, left the engine running, and proceeded to pump fuel. After fueling, he went inside the store to pay and use the restroom. While he was gone, the bus began to roll down the hill and pick up speed. Several students were injured when they jumped out of the runaway bus. A student inside the bus grabbed control of the steering wheel and swerved the bus away from a bridge piling and out of oncoming traffic. 

Weir violated many rules here: stopping to fuel a bus with children inside, leaving the bus engine running while pumping fuel, leaving his bus unattended with children inside, and (worst of all) leaving his bus unattended with the engine running with children inside. Weir had previous driving violations on this record, and had just had his suspended license reinstated when he was given the keys to drive these children on a field trip.    

In Clayton, North Carolina this month, state troopers are still searching for the hit-and-run driver who struck a schoolgirl crossing the street to board her school bus. She suffered a broken jaw and a broken leg.   

All of these cases represent a variety of different claims. In the case of the Pope High School students, the injured may have a claim against the driver of the car who struck them. When a driver has been charged with a vehicular violation, those charges if adjudicated against the driver, may be used to prove negligence per se – or negligence as a matter of law. Thus, the jury does not have to decide if the driver’s actions were negligent, the judge will instruct the jury that the actions were negligent as a matter of law. 

In the case of the runaway school bus, the students may have a claim against the school, the company who provided the charter bus service, and the negligent driver. The charter bus company may have negligently hired a driver with a bad driving record; the school may have failed to get the qualifications of the charter bus company; and the driver was clearly negligent.

In the case of a hit-and-run driver, uninsured motorist coverage (potentially carried by the parents of the victim) may be able to provide liability coverage for the unknown driver. Also the school bus uninsured motorist coverage may come into affect if she was boarding the school bus at the time of the accident.

These cases can be complicated. If you or someone you love has a claim, contact the law firm of Robert N. Katz for a free, private consultation.  

Posted By Lisa Siegel In Truck Accidents | 0 Comments Permalink

A school bus carrying 27 students overturned on March 3, 2008 in Canton, Georgia. Twenty-six students were taking to area hospitals, but none were seriously injured. The driver, Luis Monserrate, was charged with failure to maintain a lane.

According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the driver let the school bus dip off the roadway onto the shoulder. He then overcorrected, causing the bus to veer off the road. The bus clipped a utility pole and then overturned. 

Currently, there are 585,000 school buses in use in the nation. Over twenty-three million children travel on school buses each year. The Transportation Research Board reports that school buses are the safest mode of transportation for students.  School bus accidents account for 6000 injuries annually and 20 deaths. Compared to incidents caused by adult drivers transporting students in a private vehicle, these cause 51,000 injuries and 169 deaths annually. Most deaths occur from students boarding or exiting buses.   

However, the National Coalition for School Bus Safety advocates for re-designs to include seatbelts and to eliminate top-heavy design that causes rollovers. The American Academy of Pediatrics advocates having lap shoulder belts and adult monitors on all new school buses.

School buses are operated by drivers with a commercial drivers license (CDL) regulated by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Most states require special driver training for school bus drivers as well as drug and alcohol screening and law enforcement background checks. 

Governmental authorities usually operate school buses. Schools may raise governmental immunity as a defense to any claims arising from a school bus accident. Thus, lawsuits involving a school bus injury have an unusual component of addressing immunity claims. Typically, in Georgia, counties will waive immunity to the extent of applicable insurance coverage. However, immunity statutes require specific notice provisions that if not followed bar the claim. The time periods for providing notice of a claim to a government tend to be shorter than standard statute of limitations on claim filing. 

If you believe that you may have a claim involving a school bus accident, contact the law firm of Robert N. Katz for a free private consultation.

Posted By Lisa Siegel In Truck Accidents | 0 Comments Permalink

In a study conducted of the sleep patterns of long haul truck drivers and printed in the New England Journal of Medicine, drivers obtained between 4 and 5 hours of verifiable sleep during the course of driving ten-hour days in a five-day period. Most people need between 7 and 9 hours of sleep per night. Thus, fatigue and sleep deprivation constitute significant safety issues for long haul truck drivers. 

 Because long haul truck drivers often must sleep while on the road, they obtain less sleep than is required for alertness on the job. Late night or early morning route schedules are often the cause of sleep or sleeplike states while driving. During this study, two drivers had episodes of stage one sleep while driving. Stage one sleep occurs when the body’s systems move into a state of flaccid paralysis and no longer respond to motor messages from the brain. Despite this, no accidents or mishaps occurred during the study.

Drivers who sleep in their tractor-trailer often endure poor sleep conditions. They are often interrupted by noise, light, and extremes of heat and cold. Poor sleep conditions account for 62 percent of traffic related accidents. This problem is compounded by driver sleep disorders such as sleep apnea and snoring. Sleep apnea occurs when the body must wake itself up to resume breathing during the sleep stages.

Further, the human body is designed to sleep during periods of darkness and to be alert during light. The body produces a sleep hormone – melatonin – which is regulated by night and day cycles. This is also known as the body’s circadian rhythm. During darkness, melatonin stimulates sleep. Low levels during lightness stimulate wakefulness. Almost all long haul truck drivers begin their shifts between one a.m. and eight a.m. when melatonin levels are high. Coincidentally, most sleep related vehicle accidents occur between midnight and six a.m.

 
Truck driver fatigue is the subject of new U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations. Tractor-trailer truck drivers may only drive for eleven hours after ten hours off. The National Transportation Safety Board states that driver fatigue may account for one third of all large (semi, tractor-trailer) truck accidents. Further, driver fatigue was the likely cause in thirty percent of all fatal crashes. 

 Accidents involving sleeping drivers – and worse sleeping truck drivers – often yield tragic consequences. Sleeping drivers usually maintain their speed; thus, not braking or turning to avoid the accident.   For further information on truck related accidents, contact Robert N. Katz.  

Posted By Lisa Siegel In Truck Accidents | 0 Comments Permalink