Tired Truck Drivers: The Risk of Serious or Fatal Accidents
When the driver of an 80,000-pound semi loses control, and the trailer swings out like a switchblade, a particular type of chaos unfolds on the highway. If you have ever seen the aftermath of a jackknife truck accident, you know it is not something a person typically walks away from unscathed. While various factors can contribute to these accidents, including wet roads, sudden braking, and mechanical failure, one of the most common is driver fatigue.What Is Driver Fatigue?
Fatigue is more than feeling sleepy. It is a physiological condition in which a driver’s alertness, reaction time, decision-making, and motor skills are impaired. According to the National Safety Council (NSC), a study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that an estimated 328,000 fatigued driving crashes occur every year in the U.S., 109,000 of which cause injury and 6,400 of which are fatal. In the trucking world, fatigue can be deadly. Drivers are pushing through shifts of 10, 11, or even 14 hours. They often drive overnight, battling irregular sleep, body clocks, and pressure to meet delivery deadlines. This is a recipe for disaster when operating a vehicle that is the size of a moving house.How Does Jackknifing Happen?
When a truck jackknifes, the trailer swings out at an angle to the cab, forming a “V” or “L” shape. Once this begins to happen, the driver has no control. The big rig skids, the tires lose traction, and the trailer may swing out across multiple lanes – taking out everything in its path. Fatigue is one of the main reasons this happens.How Does Fatigue Lead to Jackknife Wrecks?
Trucker fatigue can lead to jackknife accidents for the following reasons:Delayed Reaction Time
When a driver is exhausted, the brain lags. A fatigued truck driver may fail to react in time to hazards such as slowing traffic, sudden curves, or debris in the road. A delayed reaction could force the driver to slam on the brakes, which is one of the leading triggers of jackknifing. Hard braking can cause the trailer to swing. On wet or slick roads, the chances are much greater that the swing will turn into a full jackknife.Poor Decision-Making
Fatigue dulls judgment. A tired driver with impaired decision-making skills may speed, tailgate, or ignore warning signs. A fatigued driver may misjudge the speed at which to approach a curve or fail to downshift before descending a hill. Any of these missteps increases the risk of losing control of the trailer.Microsleep Episodes
The Sleep Foundation defines microsleep as very short periods of sleep measured in seconds. During a microsleep episode, a person may nod off or appear awake with the eyes open. Regardless of appearance, the brain does not normally process external information during these episodes. When a driver nods off for several seconds at 70 mph behind the wheel of a semi-truck, the results can be disastrous. A jackknife can occur in seconds if the driver drifts slightly, swerves, or overcorrects, particularly with a fully loaded trailer.Overcompensation
Fatigue can make a trucker more prone to panicked responses. For example, if a driver veers slightly out of the lane and then jerks the wheel back into position, this sudden, sharp steering movement can cause the trailer to fishtail. This situation is more likely to happen at high speeds or with a lightly loaded trailer, which is prone to instability. Overcompensation can lead to jackknifing.What About Federal Hours-of-Service Regulations?
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has issued hours-of-service regulations to combat truck driver fatigue, which include the following rules:- 11-hour driving limit after 10 consecutive hours off duty
- 14-hour limit, including breaks, from the start of the workday
- 30-minute breaks after 8 hours of driving
- 60/70-hour driving limit during 7/8 days on duty
