You may have been the victim of a drowsy driver in Kentucky, and the injuries may have been so severe that personal injury protection won’t cover the losses. In that case, you might be eligible to file a third-party insurance claim.
Drowsy driving is one of the clearest forms of negligence, but it can be hard to determine. Police report around 100,000 drowsy driving crashes each year, but the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety estimates that the actual total is much higher: 328,000 such crashes annually with 109,000 ending in injury and 6,400 ending in death.
Drowsiness: Its effect on drivers
You need to know just how drowsiness can affect drivers. First, it makes people inattentive to the road and unable to correctly judge what they see. Drivers may, for example, fail to notice a hazard up ahead. Drowsiness, even a small amount, slows down reaction times, too.
In extreme cases, those who are drowsy will experience microsleep, a period of involuntary inattention lasting some four or five seconds. This can be disastrous for a driver on the highway; he or she could travel the length of a football field without knowing it.
Knowing the symptoms of drowsiness
The symptoms of drowsiness include drooping eyelids, continual yawning, inability to keep one’s head up, lane drifting and trouble remembering the last few miles. Drowsy drivers are encouraged to pull over for a short nap rather than continue on.
Various interventions can prevent drowsy driving crashes, such as new technology like lane departure warning, drowsiness alert, etc. Clearer labels on drowsiness-inducing medications could better prevent their users from heading out on the road.
A lawyer to protect your rights
You may want to consult with a lawyer who knows when motor vehicle accidents can and cannot become the basis for a third-party insurance claim. If a loved one suffered catastrophic injuries, you might see the lawyer on behalf of that person. Whatever the situation is, you may feel reassured by how much the lawyer can take on, including the negotiations. The lawyer may be able to achieve a reasonable settlement covering all economic and non-economic damages.