Baltimore residents are often advised to get more sleep, no matter how difficult it can be to actually accomplish that task. With busy work and personal lives, individuals may find themselves staying up late at night or waking up early in the morning in order to get more things done, with the amount of sleep they get suffering as a result.
While a lack of sleep can make a person groggy and unfocused at work, it can also lead to serious dangers on the road. Recently, for example, this blog discussed the crash involving a Walmart semi-truck driver and actor Tracy Morgan, who was left seriously injured after the incident. The truck driver at issue had not slept in more than 24 hours at the time of the crash.
Unfortunately, accidents like the one involving Morgan are not uncommon. One study reported that 1 in 10 drivers had fallen asleep while driving during the past year. About 1 in 8 crashes that resulted in a person being hospitalized were caused by drowsy driving. In addition, about 1 in 6 fatal car crashes were caused by a drowsy driver.
Accordingly, the statistics demonstrate the problem of drowsy driving is very real. For those individuals who find themselves a truck accident victim as a result of someone else’s drowsy driving, there may be legal options available to get relief.
Truck drivers are bound by certain rules and regulations, for example, that govern how much sleep they should be getting before they take to the road. Injured individuals can obtain driving logs and other documents that show whether the truck driver at issue in their case received as much sleep as he or she was required. If not, it can be used as evidence of the truck driver’s negligence, particularly where the truck driver violated a rule or regulation he or she was bound to follow.
