Drowsy Driving Accidents in Allentown

Drowsy driving poses a significant but often overlooked danger on Allentown’s roadways. Each year, accidents caused by fatigued drivers result in serious injuries and fatalities throughout the Lehigh Valley. Unlike drunk driving, drowsy driving lacks obvious detection methods, making these cases challenging.

Commercial truck drivers, late-night shift workers, and sleep-deprived individuals regularly travel Allentown’s network of highways, including Route 22, I-78, and the Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. These fatigued drivers experience impaired judgment, delayed reaction times, and reduced awareness comparable to those under the influence of alcohol. Even a few seconds of microsleep at highway speeds can send a vehicle traveling hundreds of feet without anyone controlling the vehicle.

If you or a loved one were injured following an auto accident with someone you suspect to have been driving drowsy, you should contact an experienced car accident attorney in Allentown. You may be entitled to compensation for your medical expenses, lost wages, and more. Don’t wait; contact Munley Law today to schedule a free consultation.

Compensation Available Following a Drowsy Driving Accident in Allentown

You may be entitled to financial recovery if you’ve been injured in an accident caused by a drowsy driver in Allentown. Pennsylvania law recognizes the devastating impact these accidents can have on victims and their families, allowing you to pursue compensation for the following:

• Physical Injuries and Medical Expenses: Physical injuries can include cuts and other lacerations, burns, broken bones, and even traumatic brain injuries. At the bottom, any physical harm you or a loved one suffered in the crash can usually be recovered.
• Property Damage: You can also generally recover for harm done to the property. This can include damage to your car, but the law covers more than that. Say, for example, a drowsy driver doesn’t hit your car but hits someone else, and because of the force, someone’s car hits your home or business. The negligent driver (or driver) can be held responsible. The same is true if, for example, a drowsy driver doesn’t hit another car but simply veers off the road because they fell asleep, hitting a building you own or other property. In fact, in some cases, drowsy drivers have run off the road and into farmland, causing thousands of dollars in damage to the crops and underlying land. The negligent driver is responsible for that damage.
• Mental and Emotional Damages: These damages are meant to cover the mental anguish you experienced as a result of a car crash and can include things like PTSD and anxiety or a fear of driving or riding in a car.
• Lost Wages and Loss to Future Earning Capacity: These damages are meant to compensate you for the time you could not work due to the accident and the resulting injuries. Similarly, if you cannot continue working your same job because of your injuries, these damages can compensate you.

How to Prove Fatigued Driving Caused an Allentown Car Accident

Drivers owe a duty of care to drive reasonably to avoid harming others on the road, pedestrians, and property. For that reason, if a driver fails to act reasonably while on the road (say, for example, by driving after staying out all night), that driver can be held legally responsible when their drowsiness causes an accident.

Negligence is a legal concept that is simple in theory but incredibly complex in practice. Put simply, to prove negligence, you must prove four things: duty, breach, causation, and damages.

• Duty: In the context of a drowsy driver, the duty element is more accessible. As drivers, we all owe a duty of care to others around us to drive reasonably.
• Breach: to prove breach, you must show that the drowsy driver failed to act reasonably. To do so, a lawyer will help you present evidence that the person chose to drive despite the risk that it was unsafe.
• Causation: causation is simple in theory but often a complex factual and legal issue. In this context, you must prove that the driver’s drowsiness caused your injuries.
• Damages: you must also prove that the breach of duty, the drowsiness, caused you financial or emotional damages. This is where we must prove the amount of money involved.

An experienced car accident attorney in Allentown can help you prove these elements. It’s essential to work with an attorney and to contact that attorney as quickly as possible, to ensure that you position yourself to recover all the money to which you are entitled.

Furthermore, an attorney can ensure you don’t accidentally waive your right to recover money that you’re owed by, for example, signing certain documents or making specific statements, either to the negligent driver or their insurance company.

How Often Does Drowsy Driving Occur in Allentown?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has studied this topic and found that 1 in 25 adult drivers reported falling asleep within the last 30 days. What’s more, drowsy driving contributed to 91,000 vehicle accidents in 2017. This resulted in 50,000 injuries and almost 800 deaths. What’s more, police reports demonstrate that in 2020, 633 deaths resulted from drowsy driving. Of course, these results likely vastly underestimate the problem, given the difficulty of tracking and reporting drowsiness while driving.

While driving drowsy is not directly a crime–like driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol–that doesn’t make it any less dangerous. Indeed, driving drowsy can cause extensive damage to property, staggering medical bills, prolonged recovery, and even death.

For that reason, if you or a loved one were hurt in a car accident, and you suspect the individual was driving drowsy, you should immediately contact an attorney to hold them responsible.

You may wonder how to recover if driving drowsy is not a crime. That’s because driving drowsy, while not illegal, is still negligent under the law.

 Can I Spot a Car Driven By an Allentown Drowsy Driver?

You may think that proving that a drowsy driver caused an accident is impossible. And it’s, at times, challenging. But a qualified Allentown accident attorney can certainly help.

There are sure warning signs you’ve likely seen before that suggest that a tired driver is driving recklessly. For example, when a car slowly drifts between lanes or onto the rumble strip on the highway or repeatedly slows down and quickly speeds up without warning.

A lawyer can help you present what you saw the other driver do and gather evidence to prove that another driver was drowsy. This can include:

• Testimony from other drivers on the road or pedestrians
• Video footage of the crash of video footage of the driver who caused your accident just before
• Evidence to support or suggest that the other driver had been awake for a long time (for example, employment records, testimony from people who knew the driver, or other evidence demonstrating what the driver was doing the day of the accident)
• Evidence about the driver’s state after the accident

The CDC has identified several groups of people who are at risk for driving while tired:

• Teen and young adult drivers
• Drivers on the road between midnight and 6 a.m
• Commercial truck drivers
• Drivers who work the night shift or long shifts
• Drivers with sleep disorders, medical conditions, or who take medications that make them sleepy

Our Allentown Car Accident Lawyers Are Here to Fight For You

The experienced Allentown accident attorneys at Munley Law are here to fight for you. You don’t have to go it alone. Contact us today.

You won’t pay a dime unless we win, and even then, our fee comes from the money we recover for you. What’s more, contacting us is risk-free. You aren’t obligated to do anything unless you choose to. Connecting with us is easy; you can call, fill out a form online, or use the chat feature on this website. One of our attorneys will happily discuss your options free of charge and pressure-free. We’re here to help.

Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys

609 Hamilton St
Allentown, PA 18101
(610) 857-7424