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Falling asleep while driving can have tragic results. What should
Page 40
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operators and drivers do to minimise the risk? Transport lawyer Andrew Sanderson reports.
In January 2002, truck driver Paul Couldridgc was jailed for eight years and banned from driving for life after killing a couple in an accident on the M20 in Kent. Maidstone Crown Court was told that Couldridge had already been told by doctors to stop driving because he was suspected to be suffering from obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). It emerged that he had nodded off in the cab of his vehicle 15 times on previous journeys causing minor accidents.
Although this is an extreme example and involves a specific condition affecting the driver's sleep, it highlights the risk of fatigue faced by professional drivers.
The introduction of the drivers' hours rules was intended to regulate the number of hours worked by LGV drivers to ensure that a culture of 'working until you drop' was not prevalent in the industry. As well as implementing higher working standards, the rules governing driving hours are there to protect both the professional driver and other road users.
The new EC drivers' hours regulations,which came into effect on 11 April 2007, have the same aim: to protect drivers and ensure that the amount of rest they take during their driving day is regulated and consistent. For example, after 41/2 hours of driving, drivers should take the relevant 45-minute break. Drivers must have adequate daily and weekly rest periods to provide appropriate periods of recuperation monitored by analogue or digital tachograph.
It is essential that operators as well as the authorities enforce the breaks to ensure that drivers are driving within their physical capabilities and not putting themselves and other road users at risk.
Preventing fatigue