Back in May, a tired semi driver rear ended and killed two people on I-35 in Lakeville. The Minnesota state patrol records indicate that the driver was ordered off the road following the collision. It is looking like a prime example of the dangers of tired drivers.
In these economic times, it might be easy to cut corners and drive the extra miles. But, what is the risk when such large vehicles are being moved down the highway? Past changes have made a difference according to the Minneapolis Tribune:
Since 2005, when the U.S. Department of Transportation reduced driving time and increased hours off between shifts, the number of people killed in big truck crashes nationwide shrank steadily, from 5,240 in 2005 to 4,229 in 2008. In Minnesota, the number of deaths from big truck crashes rose and fell from 2005 to 2009, averaging 73 per year.
This issue needs to be looked at because it’s a bad choice to drive tired and as my friend Brook Schuelke recently wrote:
it’s a choice that’s putting all of us at risk.
