Tired Tractor Trailer Drivers Can Cost Lives

Tractor trailer accidents are a major contributor to death and serious injury on Texas roads. Nationally, every year large truck crashes kill over 5,000 people and injure almost 150,000 more. Tractor trailer accidents are dangerous business because nearly one in four multiple vehicle collisions that result in a passenger vehicle fatality involve a large truck. Not only that, but the occupants of a passenger vehicles are far more likely than the occupants of large trucks to be severely injured or killed in an accident. In addition, large trucks are involved in multiple-vehicle fatal crashes at twice the rate of passenger vehicles.

One of the factors that contribute to tractor trailer accidents is driver fatigue. Federal regulations exist to prevent drivers from getting behind the wheel of an 18-wheeler when they are too tired to drive, but unfortunately laws are not enough. And the facts are clear: fatigued drivers are dangerous drivers. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) estimates that more than 750 people die and 20,000 more are injured each year due to fatigued commercial vehicle drivers.

Facts about Truck Driver Fatigue

Consider these tractor trailer driver fatigue statistics, complied by the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety:

• Large trucks accounted for 13% of all passenger vehicle deaths in 1999 yet represented only 3% of all registered vehicles. (National Highway Transportation Safety Administration or NHTSA, 2000).
• Truck driver fatigue is a contributing factor in as many as 30-40% of all heavy truck crashes. (NHTSA, 1994).
• A 1995 National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) study found that of 107 heavy truck crashes, fatigue was a prominent factor in 75% of the run-off-the-road crashes, with 68% of long-haul drivers and 49% of short haul drivers suffering fatigue-related crashes.
• Working long shifts not only radically increases the risk of performance errors due to lost alertness and drowsiness, but it also impairs a trucker's ability to gain proper restorative sleep even when they have sufficient off-duty time for sleep. (Federal Highway Administration or FHWA, 1997).
• Australian research and on-site investigations over the last several years have determined that, overall, one crash in every five among truck drivers is due to falling asleep at the wheel and that up to 30% of truck crash fatalities on rural roads are due to sleep deprivation.
• The risk of a crash effectively doubles from the eighth to the tenth hour of driving, and doubles again from the tenth to the eleventh hour of driving alone. (FMCSA, 2000).

If you have been the victim of a tractor trailer or other motor vehicle accident in Texas, please contact the Houston law offices of Vujasinovic & Beckcom for a free review and consultation of your case.

Vujasinovic & Beckcom P.L.L.C

1001 Texas Avenue, Suite 1020

Houston, TX 77002

Phone: 713.224.7800

Fax: 713.224.7801