Proving Driver Fatigue After An Accident

Driver fatigue is one of the leading causes of motor vehicle accidents, especially among truck drivers.

Drowsy Driving

Drowsy driving was responsible for approximately 6400 deaths in 2021, as well as about 100,000 police-reported, non-fatal crashes.

 Yawning can be contagious

This has no real relevance to the article other than while composing it I was yawning every 10 seconds ... now back to the story.

 HOW DOES DRIVER FATIGUE CAUSE ACCIDENTS?

Drowsy driving can have an effect not dissimilar from alcohol.

 alcohol vs FATIGUE?

After a period of 20 hours without sleep, your behavior is akin to having a blood alcohol content of 0.08% (which is the legal limit in the US).

FATIGUE

Statistics show that a fatigued driver is up to three times more likely to be involved in a crash than an alert driver. 

SIGNS OF FATIGUED DRIVER

- Head bobbing

- Frequent yawning

- Eye rubbing or straining

- Drifting out of the lane

- Amnesia, or inability to remember driving the last couple miles

HOW TO PROVE AN ACCIDENT WAS CAUSED BY FATIGUE

The proof will be different for each type of accident. But, let's break it down into 2 categories

- Commercial trucking accident

- Everyday driver accident

Commercial trucking accident

Your lawyer will access logs that detail hours worked by the driver. The legal limits are 70 hours per week or 11 hours per day. If exceeded, it can be viewed as negligent.

Everyday driver accident

You will not have logs for inappropriate amount of drive time. There are other ways to prove that a driver was too fatigued to be behind the wheel

Everyday driver accident

Your lawyer will also conduct interviews with witnesses review CCTV traffic footage, photographs, and police reports.

ATTORNEY FOR FATIGUED DRIVER ACCIDENTS

If you or someone you love has been injured in a crash caused by a fatigued driver, contact David Roth with the Roth Group