Virtually everyone has been tired behind the wheel of a car. Whether you felt your eyes grow heavy during the tail end of a long cross-country trip, or you found yourself nodding off on your commute to work due to another night of not enough sleep, the risk of continuing to drive after that moment, as opposed to pulling off the side of the road for a quick rest, could have spelled disaster. Unfortunately, if you are reading this you may have been the victim of a driver’s bad decisions that led them to continue driving, as opposed to making the responsible choice of pulling over. Drowsy drivers know the risks they put others in when they take to the road without proper rest, and they deserve to be held financially responsible for the grave damages that they have caused you or your loved one.
AAA Finds Discouraging Driving Behavior Among Large Number of Americans
A new study by AAA found that drowsy driving is eight times more prevalent in crashes than statistics used by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, as reported by NBC News. The study found that drowsy driving is a cause of nearly 10 percent of all collisions and that drowsy driving can be nearly as dangerous, by impairing a driver’s ability to concentrate and react, as drunk driving. According to AAA manager of driver training, “Your body’s need for sleep will eventually override your brain’s attempts to stay awake.” Other findings include:
- The most prevalent age group to crash while driving drowsy was 16 to 24 years old;
- Men and women are equally likely to fall asleep behind the wheel;
- 70 percent of crashes in the study occurred during the day; and
- Virtually every person involved in the study believed that drowsy driving was a problem, though one in three admitted to driving while drowsy in the past month alone.
Risk Factors for Drowsy Driving
Below are a variety of factors that lead to serious drowsy-driving-caused collisions, as well as the most likely types of drivers that end up causing fatigue crashes, according to Sleep Education:
- Most drowsy driving crashes occur at high speed on highways and freeways, which of course result in much more damage than low speed collisions;
- Drowsy drivers often make no or little effort to brake or avoid collisions due to their state of being impairment; and
- People who do shift work are more likely than others to cause a drowsy driving collision.
Call Maryland Personal Injury Attorney Tara K. Frame Today
Drowsy drivers cause a large portion of collisions, and their actions are hardly any different than a person who gets behind the wheel who has had one too many drinks. You should not have to pay for medical bills that were caused by the negligence of a drowsy driver. Call Frame & Frame today for help moving forward with your case.
Resource:
nbcnews.com/business/autos/drowsy-driving-eight-times-more-prevalent-government-data-suggests-says-n845866