How Driver Fatigue Contributes to Commercial Truck Crashes

In 2024, there were 548,521 commercial trucks involved in police-reported traffic crashes. Driver exhaustion can result in impaired judgment, susceptibility to distraction, delayed reaction times, and potential lapses in consciousness. This can lead to serious and sometimes fatal injuries.

Even though truck drivers are required to follow FMCSA regulations limiting driving hours, this has far from resolved the issue. Thousands of truck drivers still drive exhausted, placing motor vehicle drivers and other road users at significant risk of harm. Thankfully, our Charleston truck accident lawyers at The Law Office of Mark C. Tanenbaum, P.A., are dedicated to helping injured parties who have fallen victim to a fatigued driver.

Impaired Judgment

Driving a commercial truck involves making several critical decisions, which can be cumbersome even when traveling in ideal conditions. The sheer size and weight of a truck pose challenges when navigating tight corners and braking in heavy traffic. When inclement weather or road hazards are present, these maneuvers become more challenging to execute.

Safe navigation is simply not possible when a truck driver attempts to operate on little to no sleep. In fact, 20 hours without sleep has been compared to driving with a blood alcohol content of 0.08 percent (South Carolina’s per se limit is 0.08 percent).

More Easily Distracted

Annually, more than 3,200 people are killed due to distracted driving. A fatigued truck driver is less likely to process crucial information and more likely to be distracted by external stimuli, increasing the risk to a crash. Given the dangers of operating a commercial vehicle on insufficient sleep, the FMCSA has established hours-of-service (HOS) regulations that limit how many hours in a given period a driver can travel and the minimum time to be in the sleeper berth. However, the effectiveness of these policies has yet to be seen.

Delayed Reaction Times in Emergencies

Driving a commercial truck requires quick decision-making, which is significantly compromised by fatigue. It is estimated that fatigue reduces a driver’s reaction time by up to 16 percent. This is only made worse when a commercial truck weighing up to 80,000 pounds takes up to 525 feet (the length of 1.5 football fields) to come to a complete stop. Combined with a delayed reaction time, this is sure to be a recipe for disaster.

Lapses in Consciousness

Truck drivers who have been without sleep for prolonged periods have been shown to experience microsleeps. A microsleep is an involuntary loss of consciousness that lasts several seconds. Although drivers are more susceptible to microsleeps during pre-dawn hours or early afternoon, it can happen at any time. Given the long stopping distance of a commercial truck, even a few seconds of microsleep can prove fatal.

Establishing Truck Driver Liability

If you have suffered an injury in a truck crash, you will need to show the following:

• The truck driver owed you a duty of care. The truck driver must follow traffic rules and safety regulations.
• The truck driver broke a traffic law or violated one or more HOS regulations, failing to uphold this duty.
• As a result of the truck driver’s conduct, you sustained injuries.
• You suffered compensable losses. In a truck accident claim, damages often include medical bills, lost earnings, and pain and suffering.

Some injured parties think that they do not have a valid claim if they share any fault in the truck accident. This is not true. Even if you were partially at fault for the accident, South Carolina’s comparative negligence law allows you to recover damages as long as you are not more than 50 percent responsible for the crash. If the insurance company is assigning you greater fault than is warranted, do not hesitate to reach out to our team of attorneys.

Legal Resources to Determine Fault

The Law Office of Mark C. Tanenbaum, P.A., is dedicated to helping injured persons recover fair compensation following a truck accident. The liable party should be held legally and financially responsible for your injuries. This can only be accomplished by gathering relevant evidence and information, which our legal team is happy to oversee.

Additionally, we work with accident reconstructionists, which allows us to understand better how an accident unfolded. These experts can determine the speed of both your vehicle and the truck on impact, as well as other crucial components, to establish fault. In combination with our legal supervision and management, we work together to strengthen your claim.

Injured? Consult with Our Charleston Truck Accident Attorneys

At The Law Office of Mark C. Tanenbaum, P.A., we believe that the at-fault party should be held accountable for your injuries. If you or a family member has suffered serious injuries or if a loved one died in a truck crash, our legal team would like to hear from you. To discuss your matter with one of our Charleston truck accident lawyers, our office can be reached online or by calling (843) 577-5100 today.