DROWSY DRIVING IS A DANGER ON THE ROAD
The National Sleep Foundation’s recent poll estimates that Americans get an average of about 6.7 hours of sleep on a week night. The hours of sleep received per night have gradually decreased over the past decade. For example, in 1998, only twelve percent of Americans slept less than 6 hours. Now, 20 percent sleep less than six hours.
With more people being stressed about the economy, sleep deprivation is common place. It is well known that sleep deprivation can be greatly influenced by stress. Unfortunately, there are effects of sleep deprivation that could be fatal to the general public. A recent study by the National Sleep Foundation found that sixty percent of adult drivers admit driving while sleepy in the past year. According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA), sleepy drivers account for approximately one hundred thousand car accidents a year in the United States.
Of more concern is the rise in the number of commercial vehicle accidents caused by a professional driver’s inattentiveness or fatigue. Federal Regulations prohibit a truck driver from driving a commercial vehicle while the driver’s ability or alertness is impaired by fatigue or any other factor which would make it unsafe for the driver to operate the commercial vehicle (49 C.F.R. Section 392.3). There are regulations which prescribe a maximum number of hours that a driver can be on duty during any day or week and require a driver to maintain a daily log of work status (49 C.F.R. Section 395 et. seq.).
If you or a loved one have been injured due to a someone's inattentiveness on the road, please contact the Law Offices of Jeffrey J. Kroll. We are caring attorneys who are highly experienced in automobile and trucking negligence cases.
