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In The Media
The following are summaries of articles that have appeared in the media. Links to the full text are provided when available.| July 20, 2009 | Canada |
| Driver fatigue factor in crash that killed three pedestrians Fatigue impairment claims the lives of three BC pedestrians when a sleeping drivers’ Ford Ranger crossed into oncoming traffic into a rest-area south of Okanagan on Thursday July 9th. Police ruled out drugs and alcohol as contributing factors. (The Province - Link to Article) |
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| August 10, 2008 | United States of America |
| I-95 fatalities rank high I-95 stretch of highway has been identified as a high-risk roadway with all the standard safety features: rumble strips, guardrails, and median protection. There have been eight deaths so far this year on the highway and the transportation secretary for I95 notes that fatigue is a cause is most accident. The most recent accident involved the death a couple and an 8 year old child when the sport utility vehicle they were traveling in ran off the interstate and struck a stand of trees in the center medium. The accident was blamed on fatigue. (FayObserver.com - Fayetteville,NC,USA - Link to Article) |
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| August 7, 2008 | Canada |
| Trucker, company being sued in woman’s death The driver of a truck and his employer are being sued by the family of a woman killed by a dump truck during July of 2007. The driver is accused of operating the vehicle in a negligent, careless and imprudent manner and caused or allowed the truck to cross the centre line ultimately resulting in the death of the family member. Among the allegations in the document are that the driver failed to keep a proper lookout or drive at careful and prudent speed, operated the truck when it was not in a fit or proper condition and drove "while his ability to do so was impaired by fatigue and he was an incompetent driver lacking in reasonable skill." (TheChronicleHerald.ca - Halifax,Nova Scotia,Canada - Link to Article) |
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| August 3, 2008 | United States of America |
| Plover rollover kills one, injures another Fatigue impairment is believed to have to lead to a single-vehicle rollover that resulted in one passenger death and the driver being injured. The pickup appears to have drifted onto a median shoulder and then over corrected causing the vehicle to slide sideways, roll twice, and then land on it’s roof. (Wausau Daily Herald - Wausau,WI,USA - Link to Article) |
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| July 31, 2008 | Australia |
| Train crew couldn't have prevented crash An Australian Transportation Safety Board report has concluded that fatigue impairment is amongst the probably causes of an accident involving a freight train and a semitrailer hauling baled hay on March 10th of last year. In the incident, the freight train collided with a truck at a level crossing when the truck drove into the path of the unladen grain train. Weighing 420 tonnes, the train hit the truck at a speed of between 40-55km/h; the truck driver, a 33-year-old local man, was thrown from the cab on impact and killed. The truck wreckage was caught until the train and carried more then 100 meters when the train derailed and burst into flames. (Sydney Morning Herald - Sydney,New South Wales,Australia - Link to Article) |
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| July 30, 2008 | Canada |
| Driver fatigue a factor in N.B. crash: report Transport Canada has identified fatigue as a contributing factor in a January 12th accident that killed seven teenage students and a teacher in New Brunswick. The driver of the vehicle was approaching sixteen hours of on-duty activity when the fatal collision took place. The report noted that the driver was not fatigued from driving, but as far as the federal regulations were concerned that he exceeded the hours of service; he had been working since morning as a teacher thereby putting him over the limit. (CBC (Canada) - Link to Article) |
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| July 24, 2008 | United States of America |
| Fatigue may have been factor in rollover crash that killed one Fatigue Impairment was identified as a probable factor of a crash involving a single semitrailer hauling a flatbed of crushed metal. Utah Highway Patrol have stated the vehicle drifted off the right shoulder and swerved back onto the road and hit a steep embankment ending in a three-quarter roll. While the crash is believed to have occurred between 5:30 and 6:30 AM, the wreck was not reported until around 7:30 am. The driver, a 43 year old man, died after being ejected from the vehicle. (Salt Lake Tribune (Utah, USA) - Link to Article) |
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| July 22, 2008 | New Zealand |
| Behind the wheel for 25 hours without a break Transport industry were shocked when they learnt of an incident involving a driver actively driving up to 25 hours at a time without rest positing a great danger to himself and other road users. The offender was charged with 36 log book charges. At proceeding Nelson District Court when Judge Tony Zohrab went on record to highlight the danger to the public interest: at a moments’s inattention at the wheel of a 45-tonne truck and trailer unit, the driver could have wiped out a member of the public. Both companies the driver worked for had systems to manage driving hours but had no way of knowing a driver was working for two employers. (Stuff.co.nz (New Zealand) - Link to Article) |
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| July 16, 2008 | Canada |
| OPP look at fatigue after rollover An out-of-province driver was involved in an accident on highway 402; OPP have stated that fatigue may have been a factor. In the nighttime incident, the vehicle drifted onto the highway shoulder and then swerved sharply back onto the road and flipped over. A transport truck traveling behind the vehicle managed to maneuver around the vehicle as it sat in the roadway. The driver involved in the accident has been charged with careless driving. (Bayshore Broadcasting News Centre - Owen Sound,Ontario,Canada - Link to Article) |
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| July 4, 2008 | Ghana |
| Driver-Fatigue Accounts For 90% Road Accidents Ghana’s National Road Safety Commission unveiled a report that effectively links driver fatigue as the primary cause of all automobile accidents in the country. The report provided data indicating that in-spite of laws requiring commercial driver to spend no more then 8 hours on the road a day, the average driver is driving between 12 and 16 hours a day, with the worst working as many as 20 hours a day. The report has proposed four new rest-stops to enable tired drives to stop and regain their energy. Stricter regulations of the existing rules were also recommended. (Happyghana.com - Accra,Ghana - Link to Article) |
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| June 10, 2008 | Canada |
| I shouldn't have been driving "I shouldn't have been driving, I have kids of my own, I fell asleep," Diane Lauzon said according the first witness at her trial. Lauzon is on trial “for dangerous driving causing the death of Erica Cadieux, a mother of two young girls. Police ruled out drugs and alcohol as factors in the accident, but said sleep deprivation may have played a role,” the Montreal Gazette reported on June 10. “Cadieux, 34, was struck from behind as she walked her 18-month-old daughter, Bianca, in a stroller along the sidewalk of Beaconsfield Blvd. Bianca survived, but Cadieux died later in hospital. After the day's testimony, Cadieux’s husband, Carlo Spadafora, said he had to be there for his wife and hopes the trial will result in concrete changes,” the Gazette reported. "There has to be a change to (driving) laws, where fatigue is mentioned," he said, referring to a 2003 New Jersey law that makes it illegal to knowingly drive while impaired by lack of sleep. Spadafora said he'd like to see a similar "Erica's Law" in Canada. Driving while drowsy is not an offence under the Quebec Highway Code. If convicted, Lauzon could receive anything from a suspended sentence to 14 years in prison,” the newspaper reported. (Montreal Gazette - Link to Article) |
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