Fatigued Truck Driving: How Hours-of-Service Violations Lead to Accidents

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Fatigued Truck Driving: The last thing anyone wants is to be involved in a car accident, but a truck being involved only makes matters worse. The large size and weight of these vehicles means that injuries sustained in an accident with one are often far more severe and the risk of fatalities is higher. 

There are many different causes for trucking accidents on the road, but fatigue due to long hours is among the most common. In fact, around 13% of heavy truck accidents involve tired drivers, which goes to show how serious this issue is. Learn how fatigue driven from violations of hours of service laws can lead to accidents along with what you can do to reduce risks. 

What Are Hours-of-Service Regulations?

For those unfamiliar with the term, hours-of-service regulations are specific time limits put on truck drivers. Once that limit is met, they are legally required to take a certain amount of hours off work in order to properly rest and recover. The specific times vary from state to state, with 14 hours on and 10 hours off being a common example. 

The point of having these rules in place is to prevent exhaustion on the road and to improve overall safety. By reducing driver fatigue, these rules help to reduce the risk of accidents that are caused by drowsy driving. 

How Fatigue Leads to Truck Accidents

While you may have felt tired behind the wheel before in your life, try to put yourself in the shoes of someone who drives for a living. Day-in and day-out, you are on the road, perhaps taking small breaks to lift heavy items from the truck, before getting back on the road. You are likely driving in extremely rural areas with nothing going on and nothing to keep you entertained besides yourself. In this environment, drowsiness can come on fast and strong.

For truck drivers, this is particularly dangerous given the size of their rigs. Driving while drowsy may not seem serious at first, but the effects cannot be overlooked. It has been proven that being awake for 20 hours straight has an equivalent effect to having a BAC of 0.08% going to show the seriousness of a lack of sleep on your reaction time and judgement. 

Rear-end collisions and jackknife accidents are among the most common for truck drivers who are tired given that they often accidentally fall into a micro-sleep. 

Common Violations of Hours-of-Service Rules

Despite the consequences of driving while drowsy, some truck drivers and companies still choose to violate hours-of-service rules. Whether it be to try to make money or to try and cut costs, violations can have devastating results. 

There are a variety of ways that a violation can occur. Drivers themselves can violate rules, sometimes without the company knowing, but the company can also inadvertently put their drivers in a position where they feel as if they need to violate the rules. The two most common examples where drivers or companies violate hours-of-service rules are:

1. Exceeding daily or weekly driving limits of your own accord 
2. Falsifying logbooks or tampering with Electronic Logging Devices which track hours  

As mentioned, money is often a major motivator for why an individual truck driver may choose to violate their hours of service. However, pressure from trucking companies to meet deadlines or financial incentives to drive longer hours to meet those deadlines are also a big factor. 

Legal Consequences of HOS Violations

Make no mistake that knowingly violating hours-of-service rules will come with heavy penalties for both truck drivers and the company they work for. These penalties can range from fines to license suspensions to even the entire company being held liable for an accident. 

Both the driver and employer can be held liable if it can be shown that there was pressure from the company to violate the rules. This is why trucking companies need to take extensive measures to evaluate their drivers and ensure that no rules are being violated. 

Prevent fatigue-related truck accidents

Enforcing hours-of-service rules should be an objective for all trucking companies just as following those rules should be an objective for all drivers. They are in place to protect you and others from the dangers of drowsy driving, so don’t ignore them. If you have been injured in a crash involving a truck and you believe the driver was fatigued for one reason or another, don’t hesitate to reach out to an accredited personal injury lawyer who can help.