Kentucky residents have good reason to be cautious around truck drivers. Many of these operators can become inattentive through drowsiness. Long hours, inadequate sleep and strenuous non-work activities can all contribute to drowsy driving among CMV drivers. With the following tips, however, they may avoid becoming a hazard to others.
Adequate sleep is a given, but truckers should also not drive immediately after waking up. The reason is that they will still be in a state of sleep inertia, which affects alertness, memory and reaction times. Next, truckers should have a regular, healthy diet and try not to skip meals or eat heavily. For restful sleep, they may eat a light snack before bed.
In addition, truckers should not take drowsiness-inducing medications like sleeping pills, allergy medicines and cold medicines. If they are on the road and they feel they must sleep, it’s better to pull over for a short (10 to 45 minutes) nap. However, napping when one is already drowsy is not as effective as napping before drowsiness comes on.
The signs of drowsiness are many; they include constant yawning, trouble keeping one’s eyes open and trouble remembering previous exits. Truckers can watch for these when deciding whether to nap or not. “Alertness tricks” like listening to loud music are not proven to help.
Unfortunately, many truckers neglect to do anything about drowsiness and wind up causing truck crashes, oftentimes hurting others in the process. Someone who has been injured may file a claim against the guilty driver’s trucking company. Kentucky is a choice no-fault state, so having or not having no-fault insurance can alter the legal process. For this and other reasons, a victim may want an attorney on their case. Legal counsel could be especially helpful when negotiating for a fair amount in damages.