Monday Accident & Lesson Learned – Truck Slams Into Car Behind School Bus – Fatigue as an Accident Cause

CNN reported that the truck driver (who plowed into a car stopped behind a School Bus) had little sleep in the 34 hours before the wreck.

An NTSB investigator said: “Except for a short nap, he was awake for 34 hours, but I’m not prepared to tell you whether or not he exceeded the allowable hours of service.”

The truck driver has not cooperated with NTSB investigators on the advice of his attorney.

How did the NTSB Investigator know that the truck driver was awake for most of 34 hours? By examining records and interviewing people.

Other items reported by CNN were that a 15-year-old was driving the car (legal in Florida) that was hit and that she was on a cell phone.

Also, the truck driver had tickets in the past — in 2000 and 2001 for operating a vehicle in unsafe conditions and in 2000 for driving with a suspended or revoked license.

Lesson Learned … Investigators must look at fatigue.

Many investigators don’t look for fatigue as a cause of accidents.

The TapRooT® Summit will have a session on evaluating fatigue as a cause of accidents. The session will be led by Bill Sirois, VP of Circadian Technologies.