Drowsy Driving Accidents
Driving and drowsiness are a deadly combination. According to NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration), drowsiness impairs drivers’ reaction times and may cause blurred vision and dizziness.
It might even result in drivers falling asleep on North Carolina’s roads. However, this problem doesn’t just happen in North Carolina. It also happens everywhere across the United States.
If you get injured by a drowsy driver in the state, you are entitled to file a case and fight for compensation to cover your losses with the help of a reliable drowsy driving accident attorney.
What Drowsy Driving is and why it’s Dangerous
The CDC (Centers for Disease Control) reports show that drowsy driving refers to operating a vehicle while sleepy or fatigued. A lot of factors may result in drowsy driving, like alcohol consumption, getting insufficient sleep, and using certain medications, like benzodiazepines.
Drowsy driving can be dangerous because it reduces your reaction time, makes you less attentive than you should, and impairs judgment. And if you fall asleep, you may instantly lose control over your vehicle, thus, running through intersections and drifting into other lanes.
How Drowsy Driving Causes Accidents
Critical factors of drowsy driving linked to sleepiness often include information processing, attention, vigilance, and reaction time. Apart from resulting in impaired driving, researchers report that sleepiness or fatigue may ultimately result in the incapability to resist getting sleep while at the wheel. These accidents in North Carolina often happen after night or early in the morning.
Who Are at Risk?
In general, anyone who hasn’t gotten quality sleep can be at risk for drowsy driving. But there are other groups whose risks can be greater.
According to the data from the NHTSA, this group includes young men ranging from 17 to 23 years. Other groups of people who are at risk may include the following:
- People with untreated sleep conditions
- Shift workers
- Individuals who only sleep for less than six hours every night
What Happens to Drowsy Drivers Who Have Caused an Accident?
A certain report shows that about 80% of drowsy driving accidents involved drivers running off the road. And the crashes were serious since the drivers failed to swerve or brake to avoid an accident.
Because of that, drivers get injuries and injure cyclists, pedestrians, and passengers in their cars. If your injuries result from a drowsy driver’s negligence, you may file a case to hold the party responsible.
Preventing Drowsy Driving
Drowsy driving is one of the serious problems and the major cause of accidents in North Carolina. A recent study from AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety estimates that over 300,000 drowsy driving crashes happen every year, resulting in serious injuries or even death.
But the good news is that drowsy driving can be prevented. There are steps you may take to avoid fatigued and drowsy driving. For beginners, it is important to note that you can’t possibly fight sleep. You need to sleep and have enough rest.
The Takeaway!
Given how dangerous drowsy and fatigue driving is and how hard it is to identify it as one of the primary factors causing accidents, you must seek the services of a qualified attorney. Through legal resources and guidance, you will investigate the accident and identify reckless behavior which might have caused the accident, including fatigue.
