As part of national Sleep Awareness Week, National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Marion Blakey this week emphasized the need for truck drivers, other transportation workers, and in fact everyone behind the wheel to be aware of the dangers of fatigue.
Blakey warned that operator fatigue remains a primary cause of serious transportation accidents.
"Many times and throughout all modes of transportation, our investigations have found that lost sleep equals lost lives," Blakey said.
Blakey noted that proper sleep is especially critical on our nation's highways. "Each year, highway crashes cause the most transportation-related fatalities," said Blakey. "Of these crashes, recent research shows 100,000 of them involved "drowsy driving" and resulted in 1,500 fatalities."
A 1999 Safety Board study of government efforts to address the fatigue issue found that, despite a number of initiatives, little progress had been made in revising regulations to incorporate the latest research on sleep issues.
"We can do more to stem the fatalities, injuries and property damage that result from operators who should be in bed rather than behind the wheel," Blakey said. She re-emphasized the Board's recommendations that the Department of Transportation and its modal agencies establish scientifically based hours-of-service regulations that reasonably limit duty hours and provide adequate time for rest.
"We are a nation on the move 24 hours a day and this increasingly exposes all of us to the dangers of operator fatigue, not only when we travel but also where we live, work and play," said Blakey. "Combating fatigue is not just a problem for government or for the pilot, ship's officer, train engineer or truck driver, it is the collective responsibility of each and every person who operates a vehicle."
Blakey warned that operator fatigue remains a primary cause of serious transportation accidents.
"Many times and throughout all modes of transportation, our investigations have found that lost sleep equals lost lives," Blakey said.
Blakey noted that proper sleep is especially critical on our nation's highways. "Each year, highway crashes cause the most transportation-related fatalities," said Blakey. "Of these crashes, recent research shows 100,000 of them involved "drowsy driving" and resulted in 1,500 fatalities."
A 1999 Safety Board study of government efforts to address the fatigue issue found that, despite a number of initiatives, little progress had been made in revising regulations to incorporate the latest research on sleep issues.
"We can do more to stem the fatalities, injuries and property damage that result from operators who should be in bed rather than behind the wheel," Blakey said. She re-emphasized the Board's recommendations that the Department of Transportation and its modal agencies establish scientifically based hours-of-service regulations that reasonably limit duty hours and provide adequate time for rest.
"We are a nation on the move 24 hours a day and this increasingly exposes all of us to the dangers of operator fatigue, not only when we travel but also where we live, work and play," said Blakey. "Combating fatigue is not just a problem for government or for the pilot, ship's officer, train engineer or truck driver, it is the collective responsibility of each and every person who operates a vehicle."
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