Truck Accident

Heavy Truck-Related Fatalities and the Significant Role of Fatigue

Because of the significant number of heavy truck-related fatalities and the significant role of fatigue in such accidents, the Board initiated this study of single-vehicle heavy truck accidents to examine the role of specific factors, such as drivers' patterns of duty and sleep, in fatigue-related heavy truck accidents and to determine potential remedial actions.

The purpose of the Board's study was to examine the factors that affect driver fatigue and not the statistical incidence of fatigue. Therefore, the Board specifically selected truck accidents that were likely to include fatigue-related accidents; that is, single-vehicle accidents that tend to occur at night. The Board desired to obtain approximately an equal number of fatigue-related and nonfatigue-related accidents through its notification process.

The Board was specifically interested in obtaining accurate information regarding the truckdrivers' duty and sleep patterns for the 96 hours preceding the accident; therefore, the Board limited the accidents to those in which the driver survived and was available to be interviewed by the Board's investigators to reconstruct the previous 96 hours.