How Truck Driver Fatigue Can Cause an Accident

June 19, 2024

Video Transcript:

Fatigue is one of the top causes of truck accidents, linked to thousands of serious injuries across the United States each year. Hi, I’m speaking on behalf of Hensley Legal Group, a personal injury law firm based out of Indiana. I’d like to discuss how truck driver fatigue can cause an accident. When truck drivers get fatigued, they may start to experience significant declines in their abilities. Truckers who are expending all of their mental effort on simply not falling asleep may have little left over for the drivers and obstacles around them or the challenges ahead. This loss of focus could keep them from noticing hazards until it is far too late. After an extended lack of sleep, a truck driver’s eyes could twitch, spasm, or become overly sensitive to light, which could diminish eyesight and blur the driver’s vision. Drowsiness may keep truckers from accurately assessing their distance from other vehicles, potentially leading to a collision. An inadequate sense of space often goes hand in hand with inadequate speed moderation. Tired truck drivers may believe that they are falling behind in traffic and decide to accelerate to “catch up,” which could leave them with less time to slow down and add to the momentum of a rear-end crash. Other fatigued truckers may move too slowly, which could put them in danger of getting rear-ended. The reaction times of sleepy truck drivers may also be delayed, which could keep them from preventing an accident when a faced with a problem. Drowsy drivers tend to drift in and out of their own lanes, possibly causing a sideswipe or head-on truck accident or sending a trucker veering off the road or into a median. Because they might not be able to fully process the information coming at them, fatigued truck drivers may not have the judgment to formulate the appropriate response to a crisis. The number one concern about truck driver fatigue is the inability to stay awake. If a drowsy trucker nods off for a few seconds or falls asleep altogether, a fast-moving vehicle weighing many thousands of pounds will be left with nobody to control it, effectively turning the truck into a lethal weapon that threatens anyone in its path. If you found this video helpful, please hit the “like” and “subscribe” buttons. And if you have been injured by a fatigued truck driver, get in touch with Hensley Legal Group, where we have been getting justice for the everyday people of Indiana for more than 25 years.