The Role of Driver Fatigue in Commercial Truck Accidents
You are right to be frightened of those big commercial trucks and buses you pass on the roadway. Fatigued truck drivers contribute to approximately 40% of all heavy truck crashes, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
Those numbers translated to more than 42,000 crashes a year in 2021, according to the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety, which led to 40,000 injuries and more than 4,700 deaths. That is a 17 percent increase compared to the previous year.
A passenger car weighing about 5,000 pounds is no match when it collides with a commercial truck weighing between 10 and 40 tons. And when the two vehicles collided in 2021, 97% of those killed in two-vehicle crashes with a large truck were those in passenger cars.
You are right to move out of the way of these enormous vehicles.
What is a Commercial Vehicle?
A commercial vehicle moves goods across the country. It weighs in excess of 10,001 pounds. A commercial vehicle, such as a bus, is used to transport 16 or more passengers, not for compensation, or nine or more passengers for compensation.
A loaded tractor-trailer is approximately 20-30 times larger than a passenger car. The taller ground clearance means a smaller passenger vehicle can submarine under the truck in a crash.
In some instances, a commercial vehicle may be transporting hazardous materials.
Fatigue and Alabama Commercial Truck Accidents
And according to the most recent reports, Alabama is one of the deadliest states for commercial truck crashes. The Truck Safety Coalition released its ‘Deadliest Truck Crash States” in November 2022, and Alabama ranked sixth behind Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska, Arkansas, and Montana.
Alabama had 2.9 fatalities per 100,000 residents.
Nationally, large truck fatalities are on the rise, with more than 500,000 reported crashes, 5,700 deaths, and 146,000 injuries annually. The report says since 2009, large truck crash fatalities have increased by 66%.
Tired Truckers
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that tired truckers are to blame for 56,000 crashes each year. Federal statistics show driver fatigue contributes to approximately 13 percent of large trucks accident every year in the U.S.
How do these collisions happen?
· Sleep apnea is thought to be prevalent among male truck drivers, especially those who are overweight and obese at an advanced age. They conclude that sleep apnea has historically been underdiagnosed in this group.
· A survey of more than a thousand commercial truck drivers found 19% had fallen asleep at the wheel at least once the prior month. Two-thirds admitted they underreported their work hours in logbooks the previous year.
· A New England Journal of Medicine published study found truck drivers got an average of just under five hours of sleep a day, less than ideal at seven or eight hours a night.
· The number attributed to fatigue range from 1 to 56 percent, according to the crash investigations.
· Being awake for 18 hours has an effect similar to having a blood alcohol content of 0.05 percent, while 24 hours straight and your state is equivalent to drunk driving.
Looking at Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMSA) data – 32% of crashes happened when the truck veered outside of its lane, into another lane, or off the road. One-third occurred when the driver lost control of his vehicle, and 22% when the truck hit the rear of another vehicle.
Commercial truck drivers are regulated by federal hours-of-service regulations. By law, they can drive up to 11 hours at a time after 10 hours of off-duty rest. Drivers are allowed to extend the driving window by two hours when there are adverse driving conditions.
That is the law, but we have found that many drivers violate the law and, in some instances, keep two sets of books to cover their tracks if there is an inquiry.
Often the commercial truck driver is pressured to deliver the goods by a certain date and time. This pressure can put drivers and other passenger car occupants in danger.
Investigating Your Alabama Truck Accident
Truck driving accidents can result in catastrophic injuries and death.
Mr. Nix has the experience and knowledge about how to thoroughly investigate a truck accident, including:
· Preserving the black box recorder on the large truck
· Sending out a preservation letter so the evidence is preserved
· The hours-of-service reports and any additional hidden logs
· Whether the driver was texting at the time of the collision
· Whether the driver had consumed drugs or alcohol prior to driving
Additionally, he understands that the driver may have been operating the vehicle at the orders of the company that required delivery under impossible circumstances.
If negligence is determined at any step, the at-fault liable party will be responsible for paying the costs of your losses.
Mr. Nix consults with truck accident victims from around Alabama. Call our office at (334) 203-6669 for a complimentary consultation to determine your next step.
Sources:
IIHS
https://www.iihs.org/topics/fatality-statistics/detail/large-trucks
Alabama Department of Transportation
https://drivesafealabama.org/serious-stats/
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/safety/data-and-statistics/large-truck-and-bus-crash-facts
https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/regulations/hours-service/summary-hours-service-regulations
https://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/Documents/Jun9_HOS_Presentation_508.pdf
Alabama Trucking Association
https://www.alabamatrucking.org/about/fast-facts-and-stats/
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
NIH
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4702187/NEJM
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2430925/
NEJM
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2430925/
