A recent study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that drivers who were either drunk or sleepy were at least twice as likely to cause a car accident compared with sober, well-rested drivers.
The study was conducted in France and looked at 679 drivers admitted to a hospital in southwest France because of a serious accident over a two-year period. Of those 679 drivers, researchers found that 355 of the drivers were responsible for the crash by comparing police reports with crash data. They also found that alcohol and sleepiness were contributing factors in a majority of the crashes caused by the 355 drivers.
According to the Henry Ford Hospital Sleep Disorders and Research Center in Detroit, just four hours of sleep loss produces as much driving impairment as a six-pack of beer. Losing a night’s sleep is equivalent to having a blood alcohol content of 0.19.
If you or a loved one is involved in an accident that causes death or serious injury, call Callahan & Blaine, California’s Premier Litigation Firm. We are one of the leading catastrophic personal injury law firms in the state of California. In fact, in the last five years alone our lawyers have obtained over $1.5 billion in verdicts and settlements, including a record breaking $50 Million settlement against the City of Dana Point, which has been certified as the largest personal injury settlement in the history of the United States.
Callahan & Blaine also has numerous other record-breaking verdicts and settlement in Orange County, including the largest jury verdict in the history of Orange County ($934 Million), the largest class action settlement ($38 Million), the largest insurance bad faith judgment ($58 Million) and the largest employment law settlement ($38 Million). Callahan & Blaine also has recent personal injury settlements of $28 Million for a driver who was hit by a runaway truck wheel on the freeway, a $7.25 million settlement for a man who was run over trying to board a city bus, a $7.0 million settlement for a bicyclist who was struck by a newspaper delivery truck, and a $6.0 Million settlement for a bicyclist struck by an airport shuttle bus.
If you or someone you know has suffered a catastrophic injury or died as the result of an accident, please contact our California law firm for expert legal counsel.
