Back on Feb. 10 I wrote about a trucking accident where the driver had been awake for 35 hours and had falsified his driver logs. Todd Dills has an article posted at Overdrive.com where he discusses driver fatigue, Minnesota’s attempt to regulate fatigue and the legitimate concern the issue is and the potential for over-reach by governing authorities on the issue.
The issue is muddied because it’s obviously a legitimate concern. But how can the government adequately police those who are flaunting the laws and putting others on the roads at risk while at the same time protecting the rights of those who are driving carefully and appropriately? Does a “one-siz-fits all” approach work? And if not – and “one-size-fits-all” approaches rarely do work – how do we code the exceptions?
Hours of service limitations do little to effectively ensure adequate off-duty rest…and little evidence exists that required medical exams in the certification process are effective “in determining drivers who are prone to excessive fatigue due to sleep apnea or other medical reasons.”
This is not an easy issue but it is a legitimate one. Please check out Dills’ article.
Thanks for reading.