Drowsy Drivers
Note: This was featured as part of our Wednesday segment on Charleston’s 105.5 The Bridge with Box in the Morning. You can catch us every Wednesday morning at 8:50 am ET for the latest law tips and legal news. You can listen to the segment below:
There are many types of bad drivers on the road to look out for; angry drivers, intexticated drivers, drunk drivers, aggressive drivers, and reckless drivers. Most of us would claim that we didn’t fall into those categories, but there is one category that most will fall into at one time or another in their driving history, being a drowsy driver. Drowsy driving is when you are running on little to no sleep and are fighting those eyelids.
We don’t think much of it to hop in the car to our desired destination on little sleep, but it’s a more serious issue than we realize. Be it a late night at the office or being a new parent and running on low sleep, drowsy driving has affected us all. In fact, according to a recent article on change.org, “Drowsy driving is tied to 1.2 million car crashes per year, and results in up to 500,000 injuries and 8,000 deaths.”
In fact, drowsy driving is just as dangerous as drunk driving. Change.org states “Driving after being awake for 18 hours gives you the cognitive impairment equal to a blood alcohol level of .05 (near the legal limit in the US), and after 24 hours without sleep it’s up to .10 (legally drunk). Just like being drunk, fatigue dulls your decision-making skills, reaction time, situational awareness and memory — all of which create a perfect, and deadly, storm when getting behind the wheel.”
After an accident occurs, police are looking for evidence as to the cause of the accident. In such instances, what we see is something that’s discovered after the fact, later in the deposition. If someone is on medication, that’s easier to decipher or detect at the scene. The officers will ask these type of investigative questions to the person in question: are you on medication, have you been drinking, how long have you been behind the wheel, etc. to determine the cause of the accident at hand.
_If you find yourself as the accident victim of a drowsy driver, we can answer any questions you might have on proceeding and building your case. Simply call us at 1-800-868-HELP for further assistance or fill out our online contact form and we will be in touch. _
Additional Resources:
https://www.change.org/p/take-the-pledge-to-not-drive-drowsy-takeabreaktostayawake