2 Reasons Why Your Poor Sleeping Habits Could Land You In The Middle Of A Personal Injury Lawsuit

Sleep is one of the most important aspects of your health. Without a good night's sleep, your brain and body are incapable of functioning normally. Unfortunately, many Americans find poor sleeping habits to be a common occurrence. In fact, roughly 50-70 million American adults suffer from some form of wakefulness or sleeping disorder. If you are the type who believes sleep deprivation is not that big of a deal, think again. There are a couple of ways your tired mind can land you in the middle of a personal injury lawsuit.

Driving While Fatigued

If you are the type of person who would never drive drunk, then there is no reason why you should ever drive sleepy. Depending on how tired you are, your lack of sleep could have similarities to being drunk. If you go 17 to 19 hours without any sleep, your performance would be equivalent to or perhaps worse than someone who has a blood alcohol content of 0.05%. 

Although it may seem silly that anyone would go that long without sleep, take into consideration that insomnia is a troubling issue for many, which makes sleep feel like a nearly unobtainable goal. You should also bear in mind that 20-40% of American adults suffer from insomnia throughout any given year.

Even if you do not suffer from insomnia, driving while sleepy carries huge risks. Under no circumstance should you ever get behind the wheel while you are the least bit tired. You might be thinking to yourself that there is no reason why anyone should ever have to tell you not to drive while tired. However, you should keep in mind that a 2005 poll revealed that an estimated 168 million drivers admitted to climbing behind the wheel of their vehicle while feeling sleepy.

As if that isn't unfortunate enough, approximately 100,000 crashes reported to the police are the result of a fatigued driver. If you should ever find yourself in a position where you need to drive somewhere, but you feel too tired to do so, have someone else drive for you. Call a relative, a friend, or a neighbor. If you risk getting behind the wheel of a car while feeling sleepy, you also risk causing an accident, which means you could face a potential personal injury lawsuit.

Working While Fatigued

Aside from the fact that you risk injuring yourself if you work while drowsy, you also risk hurting others and costing the company you work for additional money. A sleep study revealed that a lack of sleep reduces productivity, which can in turn cause a company to lose a little over $3,100 per employee. Less troubling sleep issues can cost roughly $2,500 per employee.

No matter your current work position, you need to keep in mind that a lack of sleep could cause you to lose your job. Also, certain positions could put you at risk of harming others. For instance, if you work on heavy machinery and you fail to operate it properly because you are tired, you risk causing injury to someone else. If you happen to injure someone else at work because you are too tired to function properly, you could find yourself with a personal injury lawsuit in your lap.

Although you should always try to get plenty of sleep before heading into work or driving on the road, a sleepless night is sometimes unavoidable. If you should happen to find yourself in a position where your sleeplessness causes injury to someone else, you will need to contact a personal injury lawyer at a law firm like Whiting, Hagg, Hagg, Dorsey & Hagg for assistance. A personal injury lawyer can advise you on the best way to tackle your particular situation. If you should find yourself facing a personal injury lawsuit, you will need an attorney familiar with personal injury to defend you.