Drowsy Driving and Minnesota Semi-Truck Accidents
Semi-truck drivers are tasked with spending long spans of time on the road behind the wheels of their rigs. Semi-truck drivers are known to cross hundreds of miles of road in a single sitting. Handling a semi-truck is already a mentally and physically strenuous task to begin with but to do so for long periods of time can have an adverse effect on a truck driver’s driving abilities. Driving for long periods of time leads to fatigue which can make drivers prone to making all kinds of mistakes that can cause severe accidents. When semi-truck drivers end up driving while fatigued then they can cause much more damage than the drivers of regular cars due to their immense size and weight.
Semi-Truck Accident Injury Claims
Those that have been injured because of semi-truck drivers that have been driving while fatigued may be able to seek compensation for the damages that they sustained as a result. Civil law allows for the filing of a personal injury claim that can seek a settlement from those liable for the accident. These settlements can cover damages like medical expenses, lost wages, disability, lost earning potential, as well as pain and suffering.
Semi-truck accident injury claims require that a claimant be able to prove that the liable party in question was negligent and that this negligence caused the accident that injured the claimant. A claimant must also be able to prove the extent of their injuries with proper documentation. On top of all of this, there is also extensive negotiation that has to be done with the defendant party.
As one might expect, all this can be exceptionally difficult to handle on your own especially after suffering an injury in a semi-truck accident. You don’t have to handle a claim on your own. Consider speaking to Sand Law about what our lawyers can do to assist you with your semi-truck accident claim. To contact Sand Law either contact our office at (651)571-4125 or reach out to us online.
How is Drowsy and Fatigued Driving Dangerous?
What many people do not realize is that driving while drowsy or with a great of fatigue can impair a person’s driving abilities in a similar matter to how being under the influence of certain substances can cause driver impairment. Fatigue causes our bodies to slow down and our senses to dull among other things. This fatigue can be accumulated due to the constant concentration that taxes the mind while driving for a while or through the sheer amount of time gone without sleep. Regardless of how it is accumulated, drowsy driving will typically result in the following impairments to a person’s driving abilities.
- Slowed reflexes
- Reduced perception through senses of sight and sound
- Impaired judgment
- Drifting in and out of consciousness
- Reduced motor skills
Of all of these driving impairments, the most dangerous is easily how a person can drift into unconsciousness while behind the wheel. Falling asleep at the wheel is an almost sure way to cause an accident either via collision with another vehicle or with a static object off the road as a vehicle drifts from its lane.
Why do Semi-Truck Drivers End Up so Fatigued?
The trucking lifestyle is one that taxes the body both physically as well as mentally. Driving a semi-truck requires that a driver sits in the same position for an extended period of time. Truck drivers will be sitting behind the wheel watching the road pass by for almost a whole day as they drive. This monotony has a significant effect on truck drivers that can end up experiencing drowsy symptoms as a result. Semi-truck drivers will often find themselves driving their vehicles for over 10 hours sometimes. Drivers will often drive the maximum amount of time as allowed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration before they must take a mandatory break which is 11 hours within a period of 14 hours. This mandatory break that a truck driver is expected to have is supposed to last 10 hours.
The problem is that some semi-truck driver neglect to follow these regulations and drive for much longer than they are supposed to and push on despite their fatigue. These drivers will forego taking rest periods when they are supposed to for a number of reasons. Sometimes they might be under intense pressure to meet deadlines. In other cases, they may even be pressured to drive longer than expected by the company that employs them.
CONSIDER SAND LAW AS YOUR MINNESOTA SEMI-TRUCK ACCIDENT ATTORNEYS
Contact Sand Law’s Experienced Minnesota Truck Accident Lawyers if you or a loved one have been involved in a Minnesota truck accident. You could be entitled to compensation for your injuries.
Your primary concern should be recovery and we understand that balancing that with a truck accident injury claim can be difficult. Allow us to represent you and help secure a settlement you are comfortable with while you heal. To contact Sand Law about a semi-truck accident claim you can either call us at (651)571-4125 or contact us online.
Sand Law, LLC