
Sleepiness and Driving A Dangerous Mix
A roadway departure crash caused by a Dickson County Sheriff’s deputy on Beasley Dr., in Dickson, Tennessee, resulted in a fatality this past Thursday morning.
The Deputy was off-duty when he crossed the center line driving west on Beasley, hit the rear fender of a Nissan Maxima and crashed into a Jeep Wrangler driven by a 23-year-old man. Local media reports indicate that the driver either feel asleep or blacked out at the wheel. The 23-year-old man died of trauma to his head and chest. The child passenger of the deputy both had minor cuts from a shattered windshield.
The deputy hadn’t been on duty overnight but the local media report said the police were investigating whether the man had been working another job. There was no mention of any medical condition that would have caused him to blackout and there was no mention of a drug/alcohol test.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates conservatively that each year drowsy driving “is responsible for at least 100,000 automobile crashes, 71,000 injuries, and 1,550 fatalities.” But among all the major factors that cause or contribute to crashes, like speeding, alcohol use, and weather situations, drowsiness is the most difficult for police and other crash investigators to detect and quantify.
Sleepiness and driving is a dangerous combination. Most people are aware of the dangers of drinking and driving but don’t realize that drowsy driving can be just as fatal. Like alcohol, sleepiness slows reaction time, decreases awareness, impairs judgment and increases your risk of crashing.
It’s nearly impossible to determine with certainty the cause of a fatal crash where drowsy driving is suspected. However, there are a number of clues at a crash scene that tell investigators that the person fell asleep at the wheel. For example, drowsy driving accidents usually involve only one vehicle where the driver is alone and the injuries tend to be serious or fatal. Also, skid marks or evidence of other evasive maneuvers are usually absent from the drowsy driving crash scene.
Unlike alcohol-related crashes, no blood, breath, or other objective test for sleepiness behind the wheel currently exists that investigators could give to a driver at the scene of a crash. This makes police training in identifying drowsiness as a crash factor very difficult.
If you or a loved one are injured or killed by a drowsy driver, you owe it to yourself to contact the law firm of Phillip Miller & Associates and consult with a certified Civil Trial Specialist. Call 615-356-2000