Many people automatically think of distractions and impairment as the most dangerous things that can affect a driver’s ability to drive. While both of those are dangerous, there is another one that can’t be forgotten – fatigued driving.
Modern-day society places a major emphasis on staying busy and getting as much done in as little time as possible. This type of mindset may lead people to push themselves to the brink of exhaustion because they believe they’re too busy to get adequate sleep. Unfortunately, drivers who get behind the wheel while they’re tired are a major risk to innocent people on the roadways.
Why is fatigued driving dangerous?
Fatigued driving is dangerous because drivers can experience effects similar to those associated with drunk driving. A driver who has been awake for 20 hours has similar impacts to their driving as a person who has a blood alcohol concentration of .08%, which is legally impaired. The effects, which include things like a delayed reaction time, continue to get more pronounced if the person doesn’t get sleep.
That’s not the only risk that fatigued drivers face. There’s also a chance that they’ll fall asleep behind the wheel, even if they only suffer from short microsleeps; there is still an increased chance of a crash. A vehicle will move the entire length of a regulation football field in only five seconds if it’s moving at 55 miles per hour. This means that if a driver dozes off for that short period, the vehicle is uncontrolled for that distance.
Unfortunately, fatigued drivers are hazardous to everyone on the roads. Innocent people can suffer catastrophic injuries that require them to have long-term and intense medical care. Those victims may opt to pursue a claim for compensation, but this must be done within a short time after the crash.