The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has put truck driver fatigue laws in place in an attempt to make everyone on the road, including truck drivers, safer. This set of laws requires that all truck drivers take breaks to get some rest. The laws are a bit more specific than that. They say that a truck driver is not permitted to driver for more than 11 hours in a stretch, and that they must have rested for a minimum of 10 hours prior to getting behind the wheel.
There are more stipulations in the truck driver fatigue laws in Pensacola and throughout the country. A driver cannot clock more than 60 hours in a single week, they cannot driver for more than 70 hours in eight consecutive days, and they cannot drive beyond the 14th hour of having clocked in. The goal of these laws is to prevent drowsy driving.
Truck drivers have been the subject of many studies. Information gathered from these studies has shown that driver fatigue can be attributed to a number of causes. Too little sleep, pressure to deliver loads at a specific time, driving for too many hours in a row, undiagnosed sleep disorders, some medications and drug or alcohol use all contribute to truck driver fatigue. These studies have primarily concentrated on single-vehicle accidents.
Any person who has been injured in a truck accident has legal rights, particularly if the truck driver is found to have been at fault. An experienced truck accident attorney can offer assistance to victims of these accidents.