Have you ever gotten into your vehicle first thing in the morning while you were still half asleep? Or have you ever been driving home late at night and had to pull over for a coffee or let down the window to try and wake up?
If you have, you are not alone. Everyone gets tired at some point during the day, and, especially if you drive a lot, there is a fair chance that sometimes you will feel drowsy when behind the wheel.
The problem is that tiredness can make a driver much more dangerous
Drivers need to stay alert to everything going on around them. Roads can be busy places, with all sorts of other vehicles maneuvering, pedestrians looking to cross, hazards such as potholes in the road to avoid and signs and traffic signals to notice and obey.
Missing just one of those things, which can easily occur if someone is drowsy, could lead to a crash. For example, a driver who fails to notice a light changing could carry on through a red and collide with drivers who had the green light to proceed. A driver whose eyes close momentarily due to fatigue may miss the moment the car in front of them brakes and run into the back of them.
Because tiredness is such a common occurrence among drivers, it is always worth considering if it played a role if another driver has injured you. Learning how to find out more about their recent sleep patterns and how long they had been on the road without a break could potentially help you to accurately pin the blame for the crash on them and get the compensation you deserve.