Falling asleep while driving a vehicle is obviously a clearly dangerous situation. However, driving while drowsy or sleepy is also dangerous, because the driver is often less attentive behind the wheel, as slower your reaction time, and challenges their ability to make good driving decisions.
Drowsy driving accident attorney
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recognizes that certain Rhode Island car accidents tend to have specific characteristics when the crash involves sleepiness or drowsy driving, including:
• The collision tends to be very serious
• The vehicle often leaves the roadway
• These types of accidents occur during early morning, late night or mid-afternoon hours
• Deadly crashes involving drowsiness tend to happen on high-speed roads
• The motors at fault is usually the only one inside the vehicle
• There are no obvious signs that the driver attempted to avoid crashing
The most common types of RI auto accidents involve rear end collisions, rollovers, head-on crashes, multi-vehicle accidents and single vehicles running off the road. If you were involved in a motor vehicle collision cause by tired driving then contact a RI personal injury lawyer. A Rhode Island personal injury attorney will help you get the compensation that you deserve.
Causes of Rhode Island Sleepy Driving
Law enforcement offers in Rhode island and Providence Planatations routinely stopping sleepy drivers on the road recognize that the motorist displays specific impairments including difficulty in focusing, heavy eyelids, frequent blinking, daydreaming, disconnected or wandering thoughts, yawning, missing road signs and exits, and feeling irritable or restless.
Even though most evidence concerning a Providence, Pawtucket or RI accident caused by sleepiness or drowsiness is inferential or limited, the collision involves specific acute and predisposing factors. Some of these include:
• The motorist is experiencing sleep loss
• The motorist has consumed alcohol, which tends to exacerbate drowsiness
• The motorist has unrecognized or untreated sleeping disorders including narcolepsy or SAS (sleep apnea syndrome)
• The motorist is under sedating medications such as certain antihistamines, tricyclic antidepressants, or anxiolytic hypnotic drugs
• The motorist has a history of specific driving patterns, such as driving in the middle of the night, driving excessive miles every year or hours in a day, driving too long without a break, or elderly individuals operating the vehicle during midday
Drowsy driving rffects
Many the effects of a driving drowsy or sleepy in East Providence, Barrington and Bristol tends to be similar to driving drunk or under the influence of drugs. Sleep deprivation causes a variety of cognitive problems including:
• A decrease in vision
• Impaired judgment
• Slower reaction time
• Impaired coordination
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) claims that one out of every 40 fatal crashes and one out of every 50 crashes with injuries involve drowsy driving. This translates into up to 6000 fatal crashes every year that are directly associated with driving sleepy or drowsy. The drivers who tend to be more likely to operate a vehicle while sleepy include:
• Commercial truckers
• Shift workers, working long shifts or the night shift
• Motorists that suffer from sleep apnea or other untreated sleeping disorder
• Sedated motorists and those without adequate sleep
• Young drivers under the age of 30, especially males
• Business travelers suffering jet lag
Sleepy Driving in Rhode Island and the law
Truckers are required to follow “hours of service” rules that limit to the number of hours every day and week they can operate their commercial vehicle (truck). While federal laws are evolving to keep sleepy truckers off the road, it is nearly impossible to implement loss to prevent passenger vehicle motorists from driving drowsy. Driving behind the wheel when feeling sleepy or drowsy is a careless and reckless action that could lead to injuries or death. When others have been injured by that negligence, the drowsy driver can be held financially accountable and forced to pay financial compensation to the victim.
In the event of a fatality as a result of sleepy driving then contact a RI wrongful death lawyer. In many incidences, the victim will hire a Rhode Island personal injury attorney to file a claim or lawsuit against the driver to obtain compensation. In a settlement or an award at trial in Providence Superior Court, the victim will usually receive enough recompense to cover their expenses including medical bills, lost wages, pain, emotional distress and suffering directly associated with the accident.
