Under the Influence: What Happens When Truckers Drive While Drowsy

If you believe you have never fallen asleep while driving, you might be wrong.

Say you’re sleepy behind the wheel, but you fight it. Even if your eyes stay open, you can experience microsleep — brief episodes of sleep, sometimes as short as a few seconds. Most people who experience microsleep don’t even know it is happening.

Sixty percent of adults in the United States admit to driving while drowsy, a 2023 study reports, even though 97% of them acknowledge that it is extremely risky.

For those who drive professionally, like the drivers of semi tractor-trailers, buses or dump trucks, drowsy driving can be hard to avoid — but it kills hundreds of people each year and is never acceptable.

How Many People Are Killed in Drowsy Driving Wrecks?

In 2023, about 633 people were killed in motor vehicle crashes caused by drowsy drivers.

Here are some statistics on these fatal wrecks, as provided by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration:

• 282, or 45%, of these crashes occurred at nighttime. A slight majority of the crashes occurred during the day.
• 68% of the fatal drowsy-driving wrecks occurred in rural areas, as opposed to urban areas. Rural roadways can be poorly lit, have higher speed limits, and a lesser law-enforcement presence, which contributes to their danger.
• About 58% of these crashes were single-vehicle crashes, meaning they did not involve other cars or trucks.
• 83% of the wrecks involved a roadway departure — defined by Federal Highway Administration as “a crash which occurs after a vehicle crosses an edge line or a center line, or otherwise leaves the traveled way.”

What Happens When You Combine Semis and Other Heavy Trucks with Drowsy Drivers?

Truckers have a duty to follow rules and traffic laws, the same as passenger vehicle drivers. In fact, they are held to even stricter standards because their vehicles are so dangerous.

A fully loaded semi tractor-trailer can weigh 80,000 pounds, whereas the average car weighs about 4,000 pounds. Semi-trailers tower at nearly 14 feet tall and are more than 50 feet long. Because of their dimensions, these vehicles have huge blind spots. Semi drivers often cannot see the cars driving alongside them or too closely to the front or rear ends of the tractor-trailer.

These massive vehicles can crush a passenger car in an instant. They must be operated with the utmost caution.

Unfortunately, for some truckers, driving big rigs becomes routine. They go through the motions without keeping a close eye on safety. They drive even when they shouldn’t, like after only a few hours of sleep — or none at all.

Drowsy-driving wrecks involving large trucks killed 118 people in the U.S. in 2023, NHTSA reports. Here is an example of one.

Fatal Illinois Wreck Caused by Sleep-Deprived Bus Driver

In the early morning — shortly before 2 a.m. — of July 12, 2023, the driver of a Greyhound bus caused a wreck that destroyed three lives.

The bus was heading from Indianapolis to St. Louis. The wreck occurred on an exit ramp at the Silver Lake Rest Area near Highland, Illinois, off of I-70. The 60-year-old bus driver was fatigued, and the bus veered off the interstate and onto the exit ramp, where it crashed into three parked tractor-trailers. Its brakes were not applied during the collision.

Three bus passengers died at the scene, and the bus driver and 11 passengers were injured.

Nearly two years after the wreck, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released a report examining this tragedy. Chairman Jennifer Homendy of NTSB called the crash “as tragic as it was preventable.”

The bus driver’s roadway departure as a result of fatigue was identified as the probable cause of the wreck. Greyhound’s failure to monitor and discipline its drivers contributed to the crash, NTSB said.

Investigation revealed that this driver had been flagged as unsafe in the years and months prior to the wreck.

In 2018, this bus driver had driven while fatigued and been involved in a crash. Two months before the 2023 wreck, the bus driver was included in Greyhound’s “Top 20 List,” which identifies the company’s worst drivers by ranking their monthly safety violations. Despite this, the bus driver was allowed to continue transporting passengers regularly.

Another safety issue in the wreck — and a common reason truckers drive while tired — is the lack of available, safe parking for commercial motor vehicle drivers. Truckers often park illegally on exit ramps due to a rampant truck-parking shortage along U.S. highways.

If a truck driver is reaching the end of his hours of service (the maximum amount of time he can drive without stopping for rest) but cannot find open parking anywhere, he has a choice. He can either park somewhere dangerous, like on the roadway shoulder or an exit ramp. Alternatively, he can keep driving until he finds a rest stop, even if that means driving while fatigued and violating the hours-of-service limits.

How Laws Try (and Fail) to Prevent Drowsy Driving

The general population of drivers, though encouraged to only drive while alert and sober, is not bound by any drowsy-driving laws.

Two states have passed bills designed to prevent fatigued driving, though they have seen little success. In 2003, New Jersey passed “Maggie’s Law,” named for a 20-year-old college student who was killed in a crash caused by a sleep-deprived man in 1997. Arkansas passed a similar law in 2013.

Both of these laws criminalize drowsy driving — but only under these conditions:

• The drowsy driver has gone without sleep for 24 hours or longer
• The wreck caused by the drowsy driver is fatal to another person

After 24 hours without sleep, a person’s impairment is equivalent to a blood alcohol content of 0.10. For comparison, the legal limit is 0.08 BAC.

However, these two laws have been hard to enforce and relatively ineffective.

Truckers Face Stricter Rules — but Still Break Them

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration enforces hours-of-service rules for truck drivers. These rules are designed to keep truckers well-rested and prevent them from driving while exhausted.

They address maximum lengths for consecutive drive times, rest times, hours spent in sleeper berths, and more. Here are some of the main takeaways:

• After a property-carrying driver has driven for eight hours, they must take a 30-minute break.
• Truckers can drive for 11 hours maximum after 10 consecutive hours off-duty.
• The 10-hour off-duty period can be split up, as long as it includes a minimum of seven hours in the sleeper berth.

HOS rules distinguish between property-carrying vehicles (semi-trucks, tractor-trailers, flatbed trucks) and passenger-carrying vehicles, like buses or vans. The regulations for these vehicles differ slightly:

• Drivers can drive for 10 hours maximum after 8 consecutive hours off-duty.
• The eight hours drivers must spend in the sleeper berth can be split up, as long as each half is at least two hours.

These rules set a standard to try to eliminate drowsy and impaired driving across the board. Unfortunately, truck drivers commonly break these rules and are often urged to do so by their employers.

In 2023, the third-most-popular driver violation found during CMV roadside inspections was false report of driver’s records of duty status. Nearly 60,000 times in one year, truckers were caught manipulating the records that track their hours of service.

However, there is a lack of enforcement of the rules; therefore, drivers know that it is unlikely that they will be caught or punished, even if they decide to break the rules.

Undiagnosed Sleep Apnea Among Truckers is a Problem

Trucking requires a lot of sedentary work and eating on the road. It is not easy to stay fit.

Most truckers are men aged 45 and older, many of whom experience obesity and high blood pressure. These factors put them at higher risk for conditions like obstructive sleep apnea.

Dr. David Fletcher, medical director and CEO of SafeWorks Illinois, called sleep apnea “one of the most unrecognized public health problems that exists.” I spoke with him in episode 15 of my podcast, After the Crash.

Sleep apnea, a sleep disorder that affects one’s breathing, prevents individuals from sleeping deeply through the night. Sufferers of sleep apnea may be exhausted during the day — a trait that can be catastrophic behind the wheel of a 40-ton tractor-trailer.

If commercial motor vehicle drivers received thorough medical examinations, many of them would likely be diagnosed with sleep apnea. But, Dr. Fletcher said, the system is flawed.

Though FMCSA requires truckers to pass physical fitness examinations before being allowed to drive, the examinations don’t have to be completed by medical doctors. Nurse practitioners, chiropractors and physician assistants — people without expertise in cardiovascular or pharmaceutical issues — are allowed to conduct them.

When medical examiners don’t thoroughly assess drivers, asking probing questions about snoring, substance use, or health concerns, problems slide by. Sleep apnea is one of them.

What Can Trucking Companies Do to Prevent Drowsy Driving?

By providing resources to their drivers, trucking companies and motor carriers can help protect them. It is an unfortunate truth that some trucking companies prioritize profit over safety — meaning they’ll send medically unfit drivers out onto the roads if it means making a bit of money.

Schneider is one company trying to stop the trend of drowsy driving.

According to the company’s website, tired-driving incidents have improved 44% since Schneider introduced its sleep apnea program in 2006. Free supplies, including CPAP machines, are available to drivers. In the long run, investing in programs like this saves trucking companies money by preventing wrecks and wrongful death or personal injury lawsuits.

It is also crucial that FMCSA monitors medical examiners to ensure they are qualified and trustworthy. Some of these examiners allow potentially dangerous drivers on the roadways by simply stamping their medical cards.

Wrecks Caused by Tired Drivers of Semi-Trucks

Remember, it’s dangerous for anyone to drive drowsy, regardless of how healthy they are or what kind of vehicle they drive. The risk is never worth it.

If you or someone you know has been in an accident caused by a drowsy driver, reach out to Craig, Kelley & Faultless for a free consultation. Our 10 attorneys are experienced representing truck wreck victims in Indiana and across the United States.

We are committed to helping folks who have been injured on the road because of someone else’s negligence. We will fight for you.

Contact us today at (317) 434-3520 or through our website.

David W. Craig is a nationally recognized truck accident lawyer who sits on the Board of Regents of the Academy of Truck Accident Attorneys. He is board certified in Truck Accident Law. He is the managing partner and one of the founding partners of Craig, Kelley & Faultless LLC. He is recognized as a Top 10 Trucking Trial Lawyer and Top 100 Trial Lawyer in Indiana by the National Trial Lawyers, as well as a Top 50 Indiana lawyer by Super Lawyers. He was the recipient of the National Thurgood Marshall “Fighting for Justice” Award for his work helping victims of truck wrecks. David is the author of Semitruck Wreck, A Guide for Victims and Their Families, written to help people navigate a terrible situation by answering questions that come after a tragic wreck. He also hosts the podcast After the Crash, where you can gain valuable information about the dangers involving semis and large trucks that do not follow Indiana law safety protocol regarding speed, weather conditions, maintenance upkeep, etc.