The Dangers of Fatigued Driving

You’d never drive drunk- but what about tired? You may be shocked to learn that the two are much closer than you may have imagined. By its definition, “fatigued driving” is when a driver, after prolonged periods of continuous driving, experiences mental and physical functional disorder. A fatigued driver means a deadly driver, plain and simple!

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that fatigue driving plays a part in 7,500 fatal motor vehicle crashes a year in the U.S. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety conducted a study of 700 accidents and found that 9.5% of those crashes involved drowsy drivers. As scary as it is, many drivers will get behind the wheel despite the fact that they can barely keep their eyes open. A little under 30% of drivers admit to having done this.

Fatigued driving can be more difficult to track and stop when compared to drunk driving because there is no way to measure how tired someone may have been following an accident. There’s no breathalyzer test for being tired! Make no mistake, the results are the same- dangerous, deadly roads. Here’s a simple math equation: if someone is driving tired and closes their eyes for four seconds while traveling at 60 miles per hour, their car will have gone around 365 feet in that time period.

The drivers who are most at risk for either falling asleep while driving or making delayed decisions behind the wheel are long haul 18 wheeler truck drivers, young drivers, shift workers, and those with sleep disorders. If you have been involved in an auto accident you believe to be caused by drowsy driving, a lawsuit very well may be in order. Reach out to the Davie FL car accident lawyers at The Longo Firm for more information involving whether you have a good case.