A recent article at USA Today
reports that obesity may be what causes some truckers to doze while
driving. Last month, the medical review board of the Federal Motor
Carrier Safety Administration was scheduled to finalize recommendations about
truckers and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a condition in which people
constantly reawaken for lack of air, says Maggi Gunnels, the agency's
director of medical programs. The board may consider requiring
truckers who have obstructive sleep apnea to get treated before
certification.
People with OSA wake up frequently because the
disorder causes their airways to partially close. The constant
awakening -- once every minute or two in severe cases -– prevents
restful sleep and makes them unusually drowsy during their waking
periods. According to a blog at SheKnows.com, an estimated 7.5 million
drivers nod off behind the wheel in any given month! In fact,
statistics show 37% of all drivers admit that they have dozed off while driving.
"In
the United States, approximately 5,600 people are killed annually in
crashes involving commercial trucks," Pack said in an article at Consumer Affairs.
"Falling asleep while driving is an important factor in serious crashes
involving commercial vehicles, prompting the question, why?" asks Allan
Pack, director of the Center for Sleep and Respiratory Neurobiology at
the University of Pennsylvania and adviser to the medical review board,
who claims that obesity is a major contributor to OSA.
As a response to these allegations, the medical review board of the
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is expected to recommend
that commercial truckers be required to undergo a sleep study once they
reach a certain level of obesity. However, review board members were
split over what level of obesity should trigger the sleep study
requirement.
Pack
says multiple studies have shown that automobile drivers who have sleep
apnea have two and a half times greater risk of being in a crash. "And
the crashes you get into tend to be fairly severe," he says, though no
studies have been done to specifically address the crash risk of
commercial truck drivers who have sleep apnea.
Gunnels says
federal regulators already can ground drivers they believe are
susceptible to drowsiness; the changes, if implemented, would give them
more authority.
"Individually, trucking companies are becoming
more aware of this issue and are screening truck drivers, but there's
also a role the federal government can and should play," says Dave
Osiecki, vice president of safety, security and operations at the
American Trucking Associations. The federal agency's guidelines on
truckers and sleep apnea need an update based on improved science and
the medical community's better understanding of the condition, says
Osiecki.
We’ll let you know more, after we discover how the medical
review board of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has
finalized its recommendations.
By Brandy Schaffels
Editor, AskPatty.com
automotive advice for women
