SCIENTISTS CONTINUE PLEAS FOR SLEEP APNEA SCREENING FOR TRUCKERS
Scientists from Cambridge, Massachusetts are continuing to stress the importance of truck drivers being screened for sleep apnea. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a disease that includes sleep-disordered breathing, resulting in excessive daytime sleepiness, sleep attacks, psychomotor deficits and disrupted nighttime sleep.
Although many smaller trucking firms are increasingly screening their employees for the disorder and paying for the treatment, some larger firms are still resisting. Unwilling companies claim that safety standards should be based on a driver's performance and driving record, not on the sleep apnea study.
Nevertheless, scientists from Harvard and the Cambridge Health Alliance maintain that sleep apnea has a major impact on truck drivers and highway safety. The study points out that sleep apnea increases the risk of an accident by two to seven times and up to 20% of truck crashes are estimated to be the result of drivers falling asleep behind the wheel. Similarly, 28% of drivers have sleep apnea, which is astonishing and scary to know that amounts to nearly 4 million commercial drivers.
The only way to make a dent on this issue is for the federal government to require mandatory screening of drivers for the disorder. The Law Offices of Jeffrey J. Kroll has posted previously on sleep apnea and we strongly support such a measure that could potentially help to reduce the amount of truck fatalities.
My truck crash law firm has represented numerous victims of trucking accidents in the Chicagoland area and around the country. If you or a loved one has been injured in an automobile or truck accident, please contact an experienced attorney.
