Drivers should ensure they’re in the proper mental shape to operate their vehicles safely. One thing that can negatively impact their ability to do that is being too fatigued. Some people don’t realize how dangerous it is to push through being drowsy to drive.
By the time a driver has gone without sleep for 20 hours, they’ll experience impacts to their ability to drive that are akin to someone who’s legally impaired with a .08% blood alcohol concentration. Those effects get worse as the person goes even longer without sleep.
Microsleeps are also a problem
While going too long without sleep can have a negative impact on the ability to drive safely, it’s not the only way that fatigue can affect a driver. There’s also a risk that the driver will doze off behind the wheel. Even though those sleeps are often microsleeps that only last a few seconds, they can have devastating results.
Consider this—a microsleep of only five seconds means that a vehicle going 55 miles per hour can travel the full length of a football field, if it remains in a straight line without being controlled by the driver during that span. That’s a long enough distance for the vehicle to slam into pedestrians or other vehicles, depending on the type of road it’s on.
Fatigued driving is a preventable cause of devastating crashes. Victims of these crashes may opt to pursue a compensation claim to help them offset the costs of the medical care and other expenses related to the crash. These cases can sometimes be intricate, so it’s best for victims to have someone familiar with these matters to assist with the claim.