In our last post we discussed a serious New Jersey truck accident which took the life of a car driver. Although the car driver in that particular accident may have been drag racing and running red lights, it is much more common for early morning truck accidents to be attributable to fatigued truck drivers. Many New Jersey residents are injured in fatigued driving truck accidents every year.

Two government safety advisory panels want to cut down on the number of fatigued trucking crashes by imposing a sleep apnea testing requirement on obese drivers. Obese truckers are more likely to have sleep apnea, which is a condition in which pauses in breathing or shallow breathing can prevent someone from obtaining deep restful sleep. Those with sleep apnea are typically more likely to be fatigued during the day and therefore less able to safely operate a truck.

There are several trucking industry members who insist that the sleep apnea testing recommendations from the Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee and the Medical Review Board are misplaced. Many say that truckers drive while tired not due to sleep apnea, but because they are unable to find adequate resting places where they won't be disturbed or told to move their trucks.

One woman who lost her husband in a truck accident disagrees. The woman's husband was hit from behind by a 18-wheeler truck driven by a man who had been diagnosed with a severe form of sleep apnea.

"How many more families have to be torn apart before we do something?" she asked.

Source: The Huffington Post, "Sleep Apnea In Truck Drivers: Advisory Panels Recommend Screening For Condition In Obese Drivers," Amanda L. Chan, Dec. 19, 2012