Study Suggests that Driver Fatigue Has Stronger Links to Crashes than Previously Thought

A 100-car driving study conducted by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute found that driver fatigue is a cause of about 20 percent of car crashes-much higher than the two or three percent previously estimated. Drivers in the eighteen to twenty-year-old range account for significantly more fatigue-related crashes than any other age group. This is due to the shifting sleep patterns in that age group to later hours, while school hours stay virtually the same, resulting in daytime sleepiness. According to Charlie Klauer, group leader for teen risk and injury prevention at the transportation institute’s Center for Vulnerable Road User Safety, many extreme symptoms were apparent: “eyelid closure, head-bobbing, severe loss of facial musculature, micro-sleep-which is when your eyelids drift shut, then pop up. This was not just yawning. The drivers were asleep.” These results suggest that drivers who drive while fatigued are four times more likely to experience a crash or near-crash.

Benny Agosto, Jr. is a partner at Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Agosto, Aziz & Stogner in Houston, Texas. For over 65 years, Abraham Watkins has successfully represented injured people and families who fall victim to catastrophes. Our attorneys have the knowledge, experience and resources necessary to obtain just compensation their clients. For more information, please contact the office of Benny Agosto, Jr. at Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Agosto, Aziz & Stogner, by letter at 800 Commerce Street, Houston, Texas 77002, or by phone at (713) 222-7211.