Auto accidents from drowsy driving is big killer in U.S.

By Reuven Fenton

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Darla Drentlaw was sleeping on her daughter Katie's bed, waiting for her to come home, when she woke to the sound of police radios. When the officers knocked on her door, she knew they had bad news.

Katie, an 18-year-old high school track star with blonde hair and a bright smile, had been driving home from a track meet that ended late at night. She fell asleep behind the wheel about 12 miles from her house in Prior Lake, Minnesota. She crashed into a dirt embankment and was killed.

"I thought it was just a bad dream, but no," said Drentlaw, 55. "I couldn't believe she fell asleep and we lost her."

Drowsy driving kills more than 1,550 people a year in the United States and causes 71,000 injuries, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which estimates there are 100,000 sleep-related crashes a year.

Although studies have found the condition to be nearly impossible to fight off without a caffeinated beverage or a nap, a surprising number of people are ignorant of the dangers.

"A lot of people roll down the window and turn on the radio when they get tired," said Darrel Drobnich, a spokesman for the National Sleep Foundation. "That's like saying, if I'm hungry, if I roll down the window I won't be hungry."

The foundation says 60 percent of drivers have driven while drowsy in the past year, and 20 percent, or about 32 million people, admit to having actually fallen asleep behind the wheel. 
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Asleep at the Wheel Accident

While intoxicated
drivers notoriously leave a wake of carnage behind them, another
life-threatening problem on our nation's roads involves drivers who are
fatigued and/or sleep deprived. Nearly four percent of deadly crashes
nationwide involve sleepy or fatigued drivers, while hundreds are
injured every year from drivers who fall asleep at the wheel. Though
not intentionally malicious or premeditated, the decision to drive
while fatigued - and thus the responsibility for the collision -
ultimately belongs to the driver. The victim of the ensuing accident
should not have to suffer financially for the negligence of another.

Some startiling statistics about sleeping at the wheel:

• 31% of all drivers have fallen asleep at the wheel at least once.
• 100,000 accidents each year are caused by sleeping at the wheel
• 1,500 people die as a result of falling asleep at the wheel
• These accidents cost the American taxpayer $30 billion each year
• Out of 593 long-distance truck drivers, 47.1% had fallen asleep at the wheel at least once, and 25.4% within the last year.
• 100 million drive while drowsy each year.

You have the right to be compensated for the injuries sustained
during an asleep at the wheel accident - and perhaps even collect for
punitive damages as well. It's important that you speak to an
experienced attorney as soon as possible to avoid certain statutes of
limitations that could end your case before it even begins.

Asleep at the wheel car accidents are preventable and perpetrators of such
incidents need to take complete personal and legal responsibility for
the unfortunate mistake.

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