A new study conducted by Lytx determined that waste truck drivers are connected to a greater risk of drowsy driving during football season which is quickly approaching. They used a four year look back at driving behavior across the waste and trash industry and the return of televised NFL games. No matter where you live or when it happens, a truck accident can turn your world upside down. Whether it’s getting pinned under a truck, hitting one head-on, or being sent to the other side of the road after running into a truck, these accidents tend to leave devastation in their wake.

They used video centered services to capture the activity of government and commercial fleets and their services are used with more than $650,000 drivers who accumulate more than a billion miles over the course of each two weeks. Most national waste companies use the Lytx drivecam program to keep driving skills sharp. More than $33,000 private waste vehicles were analyzed from 2012 to 2016 and noticed significant spikes in near collisions and drowsy driving related collisions on the Monday and Tuesday mornings after televised NFL games.

The 2016 NFL season was particularly problematic because there was a 53% increase in drowsy driving and falling asleep driving events compared with the rest of the year. Between August and November of 2016 there was more than a 100% increase in drowsy driving or falling asleep driving events for those drivers. Truck accidents are far too common in terms of drowsy driving incidents, and nearly all of these crashes can be prevented with proper training, identification of sleep disorders in truckers, and safe driving techniques.

If you or someone you know has been injured in an accident with a waste vehicle or any other type of vehicle because the driver fell asleep or was not paying attention, you may have grounds to pursue a personal injury claim with the help of an experienced attorney.