How Does Driver Fatigue Cause Truck Accidents?
We’ve talked about how truck accidents are more complex. One of the biggest reasons is "driver fatigue." This is a quiet killer.
The FMCSA (the truck safety agency) has "Hours of Service" rules that tell truck drivers when they must rest. But many drivers are under pressure from their company to drive longer, faster, and deliver more.
When they do, they become a danger to everyone. Here is a stat that will shock you: The FMCSA says that being awake for just 18 hours has the same effect as a blood-alcohol level of .05. Being awake for 24 hours is like having a .10 level—which is over the legal limit to drive.
That means the truck driver next to you on the highway could be "driving drunk" just from being too tired.
When a crash happens, our team knows to look at the driver's logbooks. We look for two sets of books (a fake one and a real one). We look at gas receipts and toll records. We find out if the company was pushing that driver to break the law. We hold tired drivers, and the companies that push them, responsible.
