It is hard to do anything when a person is tired. When exhaustion sets in, it can take everything that a Florida resident has to keep their eyes open and finish the task that is in front of them. In some situations they may simply decide to stop and get some rest. When they are engaged in activities that do not have easy stopping points, they may choose to push on despite their fatigue.
One activity that individuals should not do when they are tired is drive. Driving requires focus, attention and the ability to react when changes occur. Tired drivers do not have the capacity to do these and other requirements of driving and, when tired drivers let their skills soften while behind the wheel, they can cause dangerous and even deadly collisions.
The trucking industry is regulated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to prevent tired truck drivers from getting behind the wheels of their rigs. Termed “hours of service” regulations, these rules limit how long truckers can drive without taking breaks. Depending on how long a trucker has been operating, they may need to make a full out-of-the-cab stop for many hours in order to recharge their bodies and come back to driving with fresh eyes.
When truck drivers ignore or fake compliance with these rules they put themselves and others in danger. Truck accidents caused by tired drivers are preventable and victims of these collisions may be able to seek hours of service logs from the responsible truck drivers’ rigs to see if they were in compliance with the rules. Help with truck accident litigation can be sought from personal injury attorneys who offer such services.