Fatigued driving is a very common cause of trucking accidents and multiple studies have found a connection between the likelihood of these accidents and whether or not driver suffers from sleep apnea. An individual who suffers from sleep apnea usually has pauses in his or her breathing or shallow breaths over the course of sleep.

This means that a person who should be receiving deep sleep is actually in a light sleep stage. They may feel exhausted the following day. An estimate says that more than 25 million people in the United States suffer from this chronic disorder. Fatigued driving could enhance accident chances, and often those who suffer most in trucking accidents are other drivers and passengers. 

The Virginia Tech Institute recently found that tractor-trailer drivers who suffer from sleep apnea and don’t engage in a treatment program are five times as likely to be involved in catastrophic trucking accidents. That study looked at the experiences of more than 3,000 truck drivers with similar job experience and approximately the same period of time serving as a truck driver. If you have recently been involved in an accident with a truck driver that you believe to be caused by negligence, you need help from a lawyer who has handled many cases like this before.