Fatigue while driving is a significant safety concern. Drivers who are too tired to focus on the road can overlook obstacles and changing traffic conditions, leading to preventable crashes. Fatigue can also impact decision-making ability or reaction times.
More alarmingly, drivers who are exhausted can sometimes fall asleep at the wheel, causing devastating collisions. Few motorists spend more time on the road than semi-truck drivers usually do. They might drive for 10 hours or even more in a single day.
There are federal rules limiting how long commercial drivers work, but they may still be too tired to drive safely, especially near the end of a shift. How often does driver fatigue lead to preventable semi-truck collisions?
Non-performance is a top collision cause
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) analyzes collisions and provides data to help people stay safe. The FMCSA identifies different underlying reasons that semi-trucks collide with passenger vehicles by assessing collision data.
Roughly 12% of the crashes where a semi-truck is to blame for the wreck occur due to driver non-performance. Non-performance can involve medical emergencies, such as strokes or heart attacks. However, falling asleep is arguably one of the leading causes of commercial driver non-performance.
Even a few seconds of unconsciousness can be enough for a driver to lose control and cause a devastating crash. Those involved in semi-truck collisions may have the right to hold the driver or their employer accountable.
Driver fatigue from long work hours and demands outside of the job can contribute to crash risk. Learning more about the causes of semi-truck collisions can help people stay safer and develop legal claims for compensation when crashes do occur.