Truck Accidents - the Dangers of Driving at Night

Driving at night is inherently more dangerous. It is harder to see, making reaction time for responding to hazards longer. In addition, people are more tired and sleepy, and with the disappearance of the scenery into the blackness of night, the road can become hypnotic, making even well-rested drivers lethargic.

The problems of night-driving are exacerbated for truckers. Faster delivery means more profits, and more hours on the road means faster delivery. Therefore, trucking companies insist on it as part of their desire for unrealistically fast schedules for delivery of goods. Lobbyists for trucking companies have long fought to increase the hours drivers can spend on the road, and they have succeeded in recent years. With new, less restrictive guidelines on when and how long drivers can be on the road (known as Hours of Service (HoS), set by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)), drivers can be on the road for as many as 88 hours in 8 days, on a rotating schedule of driving and resting, meaning that they sleep and/or drive at all hours of the day and night. All of these factors make truck accidents far more likely at night.

Dangers of the Road at Night

At night, the main hazard of the road is our inability to see. Humans are diurnal, meaning we are awake during the day and sleep at night, and our eyes are daylight-adapted. No matter how well-lit the roadway is, it is not equivalent to daylight. Point light sources create shadows that can hide dangers or create false perceptions of hazards. In addition, headlights from other vehicles create glare, temporarily blinding drivers. Light reflecting off the roadway or other vehicles can impair a driver's ability to properly gauge distances and speeds. Finally, dirt, dust, and scratches on windshields or glasses catch and reflect light from all sources. These factors create a minefield of perceived dangers while the real dangers are hidden in the dark. Even an alert driver is sometimes taken by surprise.

Dangers of Driving at Night

But at night most drivers are not alert. Many drivers have been driving all day. According to HoS rules, truckers can drive for as many as 11 hours a day. In the 11th hour of driving at the end of an 88-hour week, a trucker is completely wiped out. No matter how much he tries to keep his focus on the road, it wanders, and the center lines blur from a series of yellow streaks to an amorphous blob. It is 3 or 4 in the morning, and there have been no cars on the road for hours. Whenever the driver thought there was a car, it turned out to be nothing. The pedal goes down to make time. Your car, merging unexpectedly onto the highway is not seen, or is dismissed, and your life is changed forever as the tremendous force of impact hurls the twisted wreckage of your vehicle off the roadway, through the barrier, into a ditch.

If you have been hurt by a fatigued trucker driving at night to maintain the unrealistic schedule imposed by his trucking company, you need to take advantage of your legal recourses to make sure that trucking companies and drivers know that it is unacceptable for them to risk your life for their profit.

source: http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/213806/trucks/truck_accidents___the_dangers_of_driving_at_night.html