Sleeping Behind the Wheel

You’ve heard plenty about the dangers of drinking and driving or texting and driving in the media. These dangers are well documented and public awareness campaigns to decrease them are abundant. But one of the biggest dangers on the road has received little research and documentation, and public awareness campaigns for it are nearly nil. Yet researchers are finding that sleepiness —often referred to as sleeping behind the wheel — while driving is a leading cause of highway accidents and crash-related deaths.

Look at the statistics:

• Studies show that drowsiness or sleepiness impairs a person’s driving ability as much as or more than driving drunk
• 1 in 6 deadly traffic crashes is caused or partially caused by someone falling asleep behind the wheel or driving while drowsy
• 1 in 8 crashes requiring hospitalization is caused or partially caused by someone falling asleep behind the wheel or driving while drowsy
• 11% of drivers surveyed in a AAA study admitted to falling asleep behind the wheel in the previous year
• 41% of drivers in the AAA study admitted to falling asleep behind the wheel sometime in their life
• 27% of drivers in the AAA study admitted to driving while so sleepy they had trouble keeping their eyes open
• The estimated cost of sleep-related car accidents is $29.2 billion to $37.9 billion

(Source: National Sleep Foundation)

Truck Drivers, Shift Workers and Sleep Disorder Sufferers Among Most at Risk for Sleeping Behind the Wheel

According to the Centers for Disease Control, anyone who doesn’t get enough sleep or drives during hours when most people are asleep are highly susceptible to sleeping behind the wheel or driving with faculties impaired by sleepiness. Sleep deprivation is common among truck drivers and other commercial drivers because they typically get paid more for driving more miles and delivering more cargo — sleeping more often means earning less.

A congressional study in 1996 found that truck drivers averaged 5 hours of sleep per night. That’s an average, so while some may get more sleep than that, an equal proportion of truck drivers are getting less than 5 hours of sleep per night. No wonder they are sleeping behind the wheel! Although law now regulates the minimum number of hours commercial drivers must sleep per day, our experience in personal injury lawsuits involving commercial trucks suggests truck drivers still aren’t getting enough sleep.

People who work night shifts, especially those who rotate shifts day to day or week to week, are also highly susceptible to drowsy driving and falling asleep while driving. Researchers postulate that human wake-and-sleep cycles play a large role in making driving dangerous in the wee hours.

Two other groups at high risk for sleeping behind the wheel are people with undiagnosed sleep disorders and people taking sedating medications. People with sleep disorders are consistently sleep deprived, yet they still have to clock in to work on time and make it home again at the end of the day. Similarly, people on medications have places they need to get to regardless of whether their medication is making them sleepy. Many times the sedating effects of the medication aren’t felt when the driver gets behind the wheel, but while they are driving either the medicine kicks in or the monotony of driving relaxes the brain enough for the drug to take effect.

Drowsy Drivers and Personal Injury Lawsuits

Just as a person is responsible for their actions when they consume alcohol and get behind the wheel, people who drive in a state of sleep deprivation or medicated drowsiness are also responsible for their actions. When a driver causes a crash by falling asleep at the wheel or driving while too drowsy to maintain proper control of the vehicle, they are at fault for the accident and can be held liable for damages. Damages in accidents related to sleeping behind the wheel can total hundreds of thousands of dollars in some cases or even millions if a commercial truck is involved.

Of course, in Michigan, injuries must be catastrophic in nature before the victim can file a lawsuit. But when injuries do surpass the required threshold (See our article on Threshold Injuries), the damages a driver can be liable for can easily reach tens of thousands of dollars and often reach into the hundreds of thousands because of the immense pain and suffering and permanent lifestyle changes that result.

Often, people or companies besides the driver can also be liable for accidents caused by sleeping behind the wheel. Trucking companies are liable when their drivers get behind the wheel with insufficient sleep — especially if the company encourages it. It is also becoming the case that doctors who diagnose sleep disorders can be liable if they don’t warn their patients about the dangers of driving drowsy or warn about the sedating effects of medicine they prescribe.

Injured by a drowsy or sleeping driver? Put our experience to work for you.

Driving drowsy is difficult to avoid for many people, but choosing to drive when not fully rested or when taking sedating medications is still a choice. If you sustained serious injuries in a crash caused by a driver sleeping behind the wheel, you need an experienced attorney to represent you and help you recover damages for your injuries and the suffering you experience. In Michigan, the personal injury attorneys at Sachs Waldman, P.C., have extensive experience successfully litigating cases against sleepy drivers, including commercial truck drivers and the companies that hire them. Call our Detroit personal injury attorneys’ office at 1-800-638-6722 to schedule a free consultation.