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Article: http://www.dailyprogress.com/cdp/news/opinion/op_ed/article/big_rig_drivers_need_breaks/28368/

Big-rig drivers need breaks

By The Daily Progress

Published: September 26, 2008

Truckers may want to keep the hammer down. We’ll keep hammering away at the need for long-distance drivers to get enough sleep.

Driver fatigue is a factor in about one out of eight crashes involving big rigs, said Jana Price, an investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board.

It doesn’t have to be that way.

Last week in Washington, the board held a hearing on safety, prompted by a crash three years ago in Wisconsin between a tractor-trailer and a bus carrying a high school band. Five people died.

In an earlier court case, one side argued that the truck driver was “just” speeding — not overtired — when he drifted off the road, overcorrected and flipped his trailer in the middle of Interstate 94. The other side blamed the bus driver, saying he was overtired, had vision problems and did not see accident in time to avoid it.

A jury acquitted the truck driver of several charges.

The NTSB had investigated the crash at the time and still stands by its conclusion that the evidence showed sleepiness, not speeding, as the problem.

And it says that trucking companies and the government both can do more to cut down on these types of crashes.

The board recommends that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration increase enforcement to make sure that trucking companies keep their records up to date and accurate. Truckers’ logs are supposed to show when and for how long the drivers take rest breaks, which are prescribed by law.

The board also recommends that government mandate the use of technologies that can alert drivers that they are falling asleep. Some sophisticated systems track the driver’s eye movements and sound an alarm when eye movement (or lack thereof) suggests that the driver is growing drowsy.

There is even technology that can automatically apply the brakes.

Automatic braking can upset big rigs’ stability, say critics. And some drivers complain that alarms can be too distracting, said Ms. Price.

But even such low-key technology as rumble strips has proven highly effective, reducing “drift-off” crashes by 60 percent. Virginia has won praise for its widespread use of grooved pavement on the shoulders of its highways to alert drivers that they have left the travel lanes.

It’s almost certain that reducing crashes due to fatigue will require a more conscientious push from trucking companies as well as a government effort to improve regulations and require effective technology as necessary. It’s often human nature to try to cut corners or push limits. Technology that can remove the human-error factor from driving should be pursued.

Big-rig crashes are said to be a small percentage of accidents overall. But when they happen, they can be devastating — more dangerous than crashes involving smaller passenger vehicles.

Saving lives requires improving safety — both in driver behavior and vehicle capability.