Anyone who has driven long distances in an automobile knows the risks of falling asleep at the wheel. It is relatively easy to do, since the brain will operate in denial when put in the seemingly stressful situation of having to focus and keep a moving vehicle on the road – especially when the overwhelming urge is to go to sleep.
Truckers who work ten consecutive hours on the road are more susceptible to falling asleep in the eleventh hour. For the average driver, eleven consecutive hours on the roads are a hazard. But these hours of service (HOS) rules meant to regulate truck drivers, actually highlights the reason for many accidents as the direct result of driver fatigue. This fatal fact has been the source of many controversial stabs at regulation promising to ameliorate the situation. Unfortunately, there are no firm answers in sight.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) agrees that before 2004, crashes related to driver fatigue increased after just 8 straight hours of driving. The risks continued to increase from 8 to 10 hours of consecutive driving by the truckers. By allowing an 11th hour of driving, and letting drivers return to duty after just 34 hours mandatory rest, the truck drivers are allowed to put in more hours in driving – as opposed to resting. These small “cheats” at the system build up a cumulative fatigue factor with the truck drivers, and bring them dangerously close to total fatigue and shut down on the road.
The American Trucking Association (ATA) rebuts the claims that forcing drivers to rest longer than 34 hours, and prohibiting them from driving to the 11th hour may not serve to improve the health of the truck driver. But the ATA is not alone in rebuking the findings of the FMCSA. Other studies performed by the OSHA and the National Academy of Sciences have reviewed information regarding driver health, and have determined that other medical conditions and accumulated adverse health risks associated with truck driving, not just sleep deprivation, do affect the driver.
While the FMCSA bickers over accumulated driver fatigue issues of either 8-10 or 11th hour logs related to accumulated trucker driving time causes fatal instances of fatigue, our roads are significantly less safe for everyone interested in getting from here to there. This is because when a driver succumbs to sleep deprivation, falls asleep at the wheel and has a multiple car accident or any accident resulting in fatalities, there will be no distinction between who is injured, who is killed and who does not recover from the accident. This is not an issue that should be left to fate. Real regulation is needed, and real limits need to be set now. We are all living in the 11th hour with any trucker who has been driving behind the wheel on a shift that has gone on too long; if you have been injured by one Call 800-300-0001 for immediate legal advice.
