Another fatigued driver, another car crash in Idaho. If you need legal help, read this article and call our Boise lawyers to get started now.
We see a lot of these news stories over the years. Two people suffered injuries 
in a single-vehicle crash on Highway 95. According to KBOI News Channel Two, the incident happened on Tuesday July 5, at about 6:00 a.m.. It was up by milepost 170, near New Meadows. The driver of the car, 32-year-old Ryan Granlund, reportedly fell asleep at the wheel. His northbound vehicle drifted across the southbound lanes and into a borrow pit. The car then collided with a power pole and caused live wires to fall across the roadway. Both Granlund and his passenger were taken to St. Luke’s Hospital in McCall for treatment of injuries. They were lucky to get themselves out of the car. And to avoid further injury from the downed power line. A portion of the highway had to be closed for about three hours as first responders and crews worked the scene.
“Fell asleep behind the wheel” that’s the part we all need to be careful about. And something we all need to avoid.
The Dangers of Driver Fatigue
The National Sleep Foundation (NSF) reports that 60 percent of adult drivers polled (about 168 million people) say they have driven a vehicle while feeling drowsy. More than one-third actually reported having fallen asleep at the wheel. Of those drivers who fell asleep, 13 percent said they had done so at least once a month. Four percent of those people polled admitted to having had an accident or near accident due to drowsy driving or falling asleep behind the wheel.
Drowsy Driving by The Numbers
- An estimated 100,000 police-reported crashes are the direct result of driver fatigue each year.
- An estimated 1,550 people are killed due to drowsy driving each year.
- An additional estimated 71,000 people are injured in drowsy driving crashes each year.
- Driver-fatigue related crashes result in an estimated $12.5 billion in monetary losses each year.
Boise Car Wreck Lawyers
Drowsy driving is something of a silent epidemic. We are starting to hear a little more about it but many people remain unawares. In addition to being likened to the severity and danger of drunk driving, drowsy driving is also thought to be widely underreported
At this time, there is no definitive test to determine whether or not somebody was tired or drowsy behind the wheel. If you suspect the driver involved in your accident fell asleep at the wheel or was impacted by fatigue or lack of sleep, you need to let your personal injury lawyer know immediately. If you have been injured or if you have lost a loved one in a car accident involving a drowsy or inattentive driver, contact the experienced and proven team at Hepworth Holzer, LLP at (208) 328-6998 for a free case consultation