Earlier this week, we began a discussion of sleep apnea in truck and other commercial drivers. Following a fatal truck accident that took the life of a Texas man, the truck driver who caused the crash claimed that he had merely glanced away from the road before colliding with the car ahead of his 18-wheeler at 70 miles per hour. But after learning that the truck driver had been diagnosed with sleep apnea just two months before the crash, the deceased man's widow is fighting to raise awareness of the danger posed by truckers with the disease.

Sleep apnea is a respiratory ailment in which an airway blockage creates brief pauses in breathing during sleep, disrupts sleep patterns, and makes people tired during the daytime hours. As a result, commercial vehicle drivers with sleep apnea have a higher likelihood of falling asleep behind the wheel than those who do not suffer from the disease.

In 2009, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued a recommendation that commercial transportation companies institute mandatory sleep apnea testing for all truck and bus drivers, airline pilots, and ship captains. However, testing has not been made mandatory for drivers in any mode of transportation.

Some trucking and busing companies require that drivers who have high risk factors for sleep apnea, such as obesity and chronic breathing problems, or those who have been diagnosed with the disease, stop driving until they are tested and receive treatment for the disease. However, this is not always sufficient. In the truck accident at issue here, the trucking company that employed the driver claims that it was not alerted of his sleep apnea diagnosis, and he continued to drive, ultimately causing the fatal accident that took a husband away from his wife.

Source: Austin American-Statesman, "New Braunfels widow fights sleep apnea in transportation," Helen Anders, Sept. 26, 2011