When drivers hit the road without getting enough sleep, they become drowsy drivers and put everyone around them at risk of a potential crash.
But when truckers hit the road without enough sleep, they create a major hazard and could jeopardize the lives of many other drivers.
Why does drowsiness happen?
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration discusses trucker drowsiness and its safety implications. Unfortunately, drowsiness is a major risk within the trucking industry.
This is largely assumed to serve as the result of the long hours and far distances that truckers must cover in one trip. Many have extra incentives from their company to cut their hours of sleep even shorter in order to run more efficient and faster routes.
How do truckers react to drowsiness?
Unfortunately, being a trucker does not exempt a person from the impact of drowsy driving. Many truckers falsely believe that they simply adjust to the lack of sleep over time, or learn wakefulness tricks that can combat their exhaustion, but this is simply not true.
As with any other driver, truckers experience several major effects when drowsy. This includes slowed reflexes, delayed reaction times and a harder time attempting to pinpoint dangers before they occur.
Why is it deadly?
Truckers work much larger vehicles than your average driver, which is why it is so deadly when they get involved in crashes. A single 18-wheeler truck can easily take out many other cars in a crash.
The size also means that the trucker will usually leave unscathed or with much less severe injuries than drivers of other vehicles they may run into, proving the danger of drowsy trucking in specific.
