Fatigue Significant Factor in San Diego Car, Bus, Motorcycle Accidents
Many an accident on the road that cause injuries or even fatalities are not due to unsafe exterior conditions or even the irresponsibility of other drivers nearby. A lot of times, the fault lies in the interior conditions of our vehicles and, more often than not, fatigue.
Prompted by the charter bus accident in Utah in January 2008 that resulted in 51 of the riders to be ejected from the vehicle into the wintry night, nine of whom died and forty-three others who were injured, the National Transportation and Safety Board recently attributed the accident as relating to the fatigue of the 71 year-old bus driver who had underestimated his speed and had a slowed reaction time.
While the NTSB put some blame on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for reportedly failing to make adjustments to standards that they had set, they cite the bus driver, Welland Lotan, as having suffered from sleep apnea and trouble with a device to regulate breathing while sleeping in the days before the accident. You can read more in this SignOnSanDiego.com story.
Plenty of people take the chances of driving when they are not in ideal condition to do so, and can cause car wrecks, accidents, injuries or fatalities. We understand the necessity and array of circumstances that may require someone to travel somewhere late at night, or simply while they are tired or fatigued for any reason. Some tips to help stay alert while driving include rolling the windows down, playing loud music, drinking coffee or energy drinks, conducting a conversation with another passenger, or on the phone provided you have appropriate hands-free devices as required by law in San Diego County and all of California, among other states.
If you or someone you know has ever been injured in a San Diego auto accident, please call San Diego car accident attorney Ross Jurewitz and the other San Diego personal injury lawyers at the Jurewitz Law Group at (619) 233-5020. You may also contact these San Diego injury attorneys online here.
