How Driver Fatigue Contributes To Louisiana Truck Accidents

According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), 30% to 40% of all heavy truck accidents may be due to driver fatigue. While there are regulations meant to prevent commercial truck drivers from driving when tired, many drivers and their employers or customers will look for ways around those regulations so they can drive more miles and thus, make more money. Unfortunately, ignoring the rules and driving while tired puts the truck driver at risk and all the other drivers and passengers sharing the road with them. The size of commercial trucks means that while a truck driver may suffer only minor injuries, others involved in an accident with them may suffer catastrophic and even fatal injuries. If you or a loved one has recently been injured in a trucking accident, the Louisiana Law Lady may be able to assist you. With her knowledge of the inner workings of insurance companies, her training as a truck driver, and her trucking law board certification, trucking accident attorney Lauren Pilie may be able to help you get the maximum compensation you are entitled to under the law. Call or text (504) 470-3511 to schedule a consultation to review your trucking accident case and discuss your legal rights and options. 

What Are Some Common Causes of Driver Fatigue?

Truck drivers have a unique career. They frequently live and work in the same place: their truck. While this career offers many benefits, such as the ability to travel the country and job security, it also comes with significant stress, short deadlines, and irregular hours. The stress, short deadlines, and variable scheduling can lead to driver fatigue. 

Some of the most common causes of driver fatigue in truck drivers include:

• Exhaustion: Like any job, truck driving can involve long hours and stress, which can lead to mental and physical exhaustion. 
• Sleep Deprivation: Drivers often shift between driving during the day and sleeping at night and vice versa. This can lead to sleep deprivation when the driver is unable to fall asleep during their off-hours but must get up and start driving to meet their deadlines. 
• Sleep Apnea: The sedentary nature of a truck driving job and the lack of quick, healthy food options available, combined with an inability to find a convenient gym and the time for a workout, leads to many truck drivers being overweight or even obese. This extra weight can lead to sleep apnea. Even those drivers who can maintain a healthy weight may still be susceptible to sleep apnea.  If a driver is diagnosed with sleep apnea, then there are additional rules regarding whether he can qualify to continue being a CDL driver.
• Drugs or Alcohol: Some truck drivers resort to using drugs or alcohol for many reasons. They may use them to stay awake, to fall asleep, to lose weight, or due to addiction. However, their use can cause sleep problems, leading to driver fatigue and truck accidents. 
• Certain Medications: From a cold and flu medication to a prescription for high blood pressure or diabetes, many medications list drowsiness as a potential side effect. Even if the driver is otherwise well-rested, this side effect could cause them to be too drowsy to drive. If the driver is already overly tired due to sleep deprivation or other reasons, medication drowsiness may add to this and significantly increase the chances the driver will fall asleep behind the wheel. 
• Other Health Conditions: High blood pressure, hypothyroidism, depression, neurological disorders, and other health conditions can cause excessive sleepiness. In some cases, truck drivers may not even know they are suffering from a health condition, which causes them to feel more tired than they should.
• Monotony: From engine noise to the soothing repetitive noise of the tires and the long, straight, uninterrupted stretches of road, driving a truck involves a lot of monotony. This tedious repetition routine leads to boredom and excess confidence, which can cause a driver to be too relaxed as they drive. In a split second, they could fall asleep and hurt or kill others on the road with them. 

How Does Driver Fatigue Contribute to Truck Accidents?

People may wonder how driver fatigue contributes to truck accidents. After all, many people take care of children, go to work, go to school, and run errands when tired. However, truck drivers and their fatigue are different. First, truck driver fatigue is not necessarily just being tired. Truck drivers may feel well-rested, but the monotony of long hours on long, straight roads with nothing to see but trees and grass can bore them and result in fatigue. Second, truck drivers control a massive vehicle weighing tens of thousands of pounds. A few seconds of distraction can cause the driver to lose control of the truck and cause an accident that changes lives forever. 

Some of the ways that driver fatigue contributes to truck accidents include: 

• Poor Concentration: Controlling an enormous truck requires focus. Fatigue impairs concentration by decreasing alertness and increasing distractability. Drivers may miss visual cues such as road signs, traffic signals, or brake lights, and they may be distracted by reaching for a caffeinated beverage to stay awake or the sounds of their phone.
• Loss of Coordination: Fatigue makes it more difficult for the body’s muscles to generate the force necessary for coordinated movement, reducing the truck driver’s strength and control. This may lead to accidents if the driver cannot turn the steering wheel quickly enough, step on the brakes with appropriate force, or otherwise control the truck. 
• Poor Decision-Making Skills: Fatigue can cause impulsivity, procrastination, and avoiding decisions. Impulsivity can cause a truck driver to change lanes in front of another vehicle, while procrastination could cause them to wait too long to get into the correct lane to take the necessary exit. Both could cause truck accidents that devastate the lives of others. 
• Slower Reflexes and Reaction Times: Fatigue impacts the brain’s ability to process information and make quick decisions, leading to slower reaction times. Fatigue can also affect muscle function, making it harder for muscles to contract quickly and efficiently. This causes delayed muscle responses and reduces force production, which involves the driver’s accuracy and speed of movement, producing slower reflexes and a higher likelihood of accidents. 
• Difficulty Maintaining a Steady Course and Speed: Exhaustion makes it challenging to maintain consistency. With slower reflexes and reaction times, poor concentration and reduced coordination, truck drivers may begin drifting in and out of their lane, swerving violently on and off the road, and their foot may may apply varying pressure to the accelerator, causing their speed to rise and fall erratically, confusing and endangering other drivers around them. 
• Tunnel Vision: Driver fatigue, particularly sleep deprivation, restricts the driver’s attention to the central visual field: the area directly in front of them. This reduces peripheral awareness, which means the driver may be less aware of what is happening in their periphery, such as cars passing them, or road signs indicating exits or turns. Combined with slower reflexes and reaction times, this creates the potential for disaster. 
• Forgetting Recent Driving: Episodic memory allows people to remember recent activities. Fatigue can cause difficulty remembering recent events and experiences, including driving for a truck driver. This means that a truck driver may drive erratically, causing trouble for other drivers, without memory of it. 
• Microsleeps: Microsleeps are tiny episodes of sleep or drowsiness that last just a few seconds. The Louisiana Department of Transportation indicates that interstate highways have a speed limit of 70 miles per hour. At that speed, a driver asleep for a mere five seconds will travel 513 feet, or the length of approximately one and a half football fields. A commercial semi-truck takes approximately 525 feet to come to a complete stop. One microsleep could be enough to cause a collision that seriously injures or even kills others. 

Common Myths and Misconceptions About Driver Fatigue and Truck Accidents

When people have been injured in a truck accident due to truck driver fatigue, they often learn several myths and misconceptions. Some of these falsehoods may make them think they should not file a claim, while others may make them overly confident about winning. Regardless of what an individual has concluded, clearing up these myths and misconceptions can be critical to setting reasonable expectations regarding what will happen if the individual files a claim. 

The Truck Driver Is Always At Fault 

Many people assume that because the truck driver is in control of the larger vehicle, with a broader view of the road ahead of them, they must always be at fault when involved in a truck accident. However, commercial trucks frequently have blind spots and sometimes, individuals in cars will take actions that cause the truck driver to react, resulting in accidents. 

However, even if an individual bears some responsibility in the accident, La. Civ. Code art. 2323 provides that they can still recover compensation for their injuries and property damage. This law also provides that the compensation recovered will be reduced by the individual’s proportion of fault in the accident. This means that even if the truck driver is not completely at fault, individuals may be able to recover compensation. 

Fatigue Is Difficult to Prove

A truck driver admitting to falling asleep or feeling drowsy at the wheel after an accident is highly unlikely. Without such an admission, it may seem difficult to prove driver fatigue in a truck accident. However, modern technology has made it significantly easier. With electronic logging devices (ELDs) tracking driving hours, the Louisiana Law Lady may be able to build a strong case that shows the truck driver ignored the hours of service regulations put in place by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and was driving fatigued, thus making the truck driver partially or completely responsible for the accident.

Truck Drivers Can Get By With Little Sleep

Truck drivers may convince themselves they can get by with very little sleep. After all, their job is seated and requires little physical labor. However, too little sleep affects cognitive function, physical strength, and can lead to a variety of health problems that can contribute to continued lack of sleep as well as other issues that may interfere with a truck driver’s ability to safely to do their job. 

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) indicates that adults need between seven and nine hours of sleep per night. The FMCSA’s hours of service regulations allow enough time for drivers to get that much sleep; unfortunately, many other factors can cause a truck driver to struggle with sleep and therefore, not get enough sleep either occasionally or on a regular basis. 

Radio, Open Windows, and Other Tricks Will Keep Truck Drivers Awake

A trick commonly used by not only truck drivers, but others, is to turn up the radio volume to stay awake. Other tricks include opening windows for fresh air blowing in their face, drinking coffee or other caffeinated beverages, or taking a few minutes to walk around and “wake up.” The problem with these tricks and others like them is that they do not work. They may provide a short-term boost in energy that allows the driver to think they are more alert and awake, but ultimately, this energy boost does not last and the driver often feels more tired when the effect wears off than they did before. 

Truck Drivers Are Less Likely to Cause Accidents Than Other Drivers

An extremely common misconception is that truck drivers are less likely to cause accidents than other drivers. This one is particularly dangerous because it is often perpetuated by the truck drivers themselves. This myth is based on the idea that because truck drivers drive tens of thousands of miles per year, they are better drivers and thus, less likely to cause an accident. 

However, despite their professional driver status, truck drivers are at a much higher risk of causing an accident than other drivers, with some reports putting the odds as high as a thousand times more. One possible reason for this higher risk is the simple fact that truck drivers drive so many more miles than the average individual. Another reason may be that truck drivers become too confident and relaxed regarding their own driving skills. Driver fatigue, drugs and alcohol and other factors may also play a role in the increased risk of truck drivers being responsible for accidents. 

Driver Fatigue Is Not a Main Cause of Truck Accidents 

Another common myth is that driving tired is not a main cause of truck accidents. However, with fatigue being cited as a contributing factor in one-third to nearly one-half of all truck accidents, it is clearly one of the most common causes. Additionally, it is a preventable cause when drivers follow the hours of service regulations and are given reasonable deadlines for delivering their loads. 

Truck Accidents Are Just as Dangerous for the Truck Driver as Others 

Commercial trucks are significantly larger and weigh far more than most passenger vehicles. The idea that a truck accident is just as dangerous for the truck driver as for others involved in the crash is unreasonable. The size and weight of the truck not only presents a greater danger to the individuals in the other vehicle, but it also provides more protection for the truck driver by distributing the impact forces over a larger area and potentially absorbing more energy than a smaller vehicle. As long as a truck driver is properly using their seat belt, they are often safer in a crash. 

All Truck Drivers Are Well-Trained

Another common myth is that all truck drivers are well-trained. Unfortunately, this is not true. Novice drivers do not yet have much experience, and depending on the state in which they learned to drive, they may not have received much training. Some trucking companies offer their own training, which may not be as thorough as a truck driving school. Truck driving schools also vary, with most averaging approximately 12 weeks, but with some lasting as little as four weeks and some as long as a year. These variations create significant differences in both knowledge and practical experience, which creates drivers with a broad variety of experience and knowledge sharing the road. 

Trucking Companies and Insurers Will Accept Responsibility for Their Negligent Drivers’ Accidents 

A misconception that often sets unrealistic expectations for truck accident victims is that trucking companies and insurers will always accept responsibility for a negligent truck driver’s accident. Unfortunately, like any motor vehicle accident, trucking companies and insurers will seek to put the fault on the other driver. An experienced attorney may be able to assist accident victims with collecting evidence, proving fault, and negotiating with insurance companies or representing the victim in court when necessary. 

Required Rest Breaks Are Strictly Enforced 

The FMCSA has the authority to enforce their hours of service regulations. However, they cannot know what every truck driver is doing at every moment. Trucking companies may prioritize profits over safety and “look the other way,” if not outright encourage, their drivers to violate the rules. Drivers under pressure with strict deadlines may make their own decision to violate the rules because they are behind due to unexpected traffic, bad weather, or other delays, or because their deadline was impossible to meet without violating the rules. 

Which Type of Driver Fatigue-Related Truck Accident Is Most Common?

While it is difficult to determine precise numbers because even when a truck driver is following all the hours of service rules, they can still be fatigued, the most common truck accidents are rear-end accidents in which the truck rear-ends the other vehicle, and running off the road or veering into another lane. Both of these types of accidents can have many causes, but are also consistent with what could happen when a driver is fatigued. 

One important thing to note is that the odds of these, and other, accidents increases with proximity to the truck driver’s destination. This is because the driver often becomes more relaxed, knowing they are almost at their destination, and this relaxation combined with exhaustion, can increase their poor concentration, slow reaction times, tunnel vision, and microsleeps. 

What To Do If You Are Involved in a Driver Fatigue-Related Truck Accident

When someone is a victim in a driver fatigue-related truck accident, they should essentially do the same things they would after any other vehicle accident. The following steps can help with diagnosing and recovering from injuries, gathering evidence, and preserving a claim: 

• Seek Medical Treatment: The injuries in a truck accident are often much more severe than those in an accident between two vehicles closer in size. Individuals may need to call 9-1-1 for emergency assistance, but even if they do not, they should go to a nearby urgent care or emergency room as soon as possible after the accident to get a thorough examination and ensure there are no hidden injuries such as internal bleeding, internal organ damage, or broken bones. 
• Report the Accident: La. R.S. §32:398 requires drivers to report vehicle accidents to the local police if it occurs in an incorporated town or city, and to the nearest sheriff or the Louisiana State Police if it occurs outside an incorporated town or city. 
• Exchange Information: In cases where there are no severe injuries to anyone, this step can be done before or after seeking medical treatment. However, exchanging names, addresses, phone numbers, and insurance information with the truck driver is essential. Individuals should also request the name of the truck driver’s employer. 
• Consult an Attorney: Louisiana does not require accident victims to have an attorney to file a claim against a truck driver in a truck accident. However, individuals may want to consider consulting an attorney regarding their case. Trucking accident attorneys are more familiar with the laws, understand and have experience navigating the legal system, and may be able to offer guidance and support regarding whether to accept or decline a settlement offer. 
• Gather Evidence: Whether the accident victim hires an attorney or chooses not to, they should begin preserving evidence. This can include photos and videos of the accident scene, medical records and bills, contact information and witness statements from any witnesses, and the electronic logging device or other records from the truck. Some evidence, such as the truck driver’s records, may be easier to get with an attorney. 
• Negotiate a Settlement or Go to Court: Once the evidence has been gathered, the next step is to determine liability and attempt to negotiate a settlement with the other party. If settlement negotiations fail, or if circumstances warrant skipping negotiations, the victim can file a lawsuit and take the case to court. 

How a Trucking Accident Attorney May Benefit You

Without truck drivers, we would not have the foods we eat, clothes we wear, or any of the other products we buy in stores. However, sometimes these drivers or the companies they work for, ignore the rules meant for both their safety and yours, to shorten deadlines and maximize profits. When they do this, it can lead to driver fatigue. Drivers continuing to drive while they are exhausted have a much higher risk of getting into truck accidents and injuring or killing someone. The Louisiana Law Lady is an experienced, trucking law board-certified attorney who may be able to assist you in determining liability, gathering evidence from the truck driver’s logs, and building a strong case that helps you recover the compensation you deserve under the law. Call (504) 470-3511 to schedule a consultation and find out more about your legal rights and options.