My good friend Chris Davis, who is without a doubt the best accident attorney in Seattle, Washington, brought this to my attention about the dangers of daylight saving time. We all know what daylight saving is. We set clocks ahead one hour in spring and turning the clocks back one hour in fall. I always love gaining an hour and loosing one.  During this day, studies show that there are higher rates of heart attacks, traffic accidents and workplace injuries.

Daylight saving time impacts many other aspects in life.  This includes affecting people’s health.  Transitions into and out of DST can disturb people’s sleeping patterns which makes them more restless at night.  According to a study, heart attacks during the first week of DST usually increase.  It is because the loss of an hour’s sleep may make people more susceptible to an attack.

Another effect where many research reported is the increase of general/fatal crashes after time change in spring.  The main hypothesis is that time change in spring deprived people of one-hour sleep, which, in the short run, could induce drivers’ sleepiness or fatigue while driving.  When you’re tired you don’t pay much attention to your surroundings and are not as alert to danger.

A study from the University of British in Columbia showed a 17 percent increase in motor vehicle collisions due to sleep deprivation.  In addition, some other studies found that drivers’ alcohol-drinking or late-night driving behavior out of one extra hour during dusk possible attributed to the increase of fatal vehicle crashes.

On Sunday, March 11, 2012 at 2 a.m., Daylight Time begins in the United States.  It is very important to take extra efforts to prepare for a time change on your body’s natural rhythm.  Hopefully, the following tips could help you to easily adjust with the Daytime Savings Time:

• go to bed 10 to 15 minutes earlier a few nights before the time change and wake up 10 to 15 minutes earlier for a gradual ease into Daylight Saving Time
• don’t take a nap the Saturday afternoon before the Sunday time change, it will only exacerbate the problem
• get some sun first thing in the morning to help reset your body’s internal clock
• avoid evening light the day of the time change as well as the following Monday to further strengthen the reset

Let’s make sure this study is wrong for 2012 and there is a decrease in injury car accidents on Kentucky highways.

The March 26th accident in Hart County, Kentucky is the second worst traffic accident in Kentucky history.  The worse occurred on May 14, 1988, when 27 people were killed in a bus crash caused by a drunk driver outside Carrollton, Kentucky. I was a young prosecutor at the time and was horrified by the accident. I still get a chill every time I drive pass the memorial sign on I-71.

       I would describe The Munfordville truck accident in the same one word: “horrific.” A semi truck traveling south in the early morning hours crossed the median, went through the cable barriers into the oncoming traffic and hit a van head on killing 10 of its passengers  The driver of the truck was also killed.  Several families and communities suffered great losses that morning. My heart goes out to them.

       The 10 people in the van were traveling from Marrowbone, Kentucky to Iowa for a wedding.  They were members of the Mennonite faith. As the grieving process continues with family, loved ones and communities touched by this tragedy are looking for an explanation as to why and how this happened.

       There have been some answers from this ongoing investigation of The National Transportation and Safety Board, who are investigating the crash.  The cable barriers were found to be properly installed and up to safety standards. Unfortunately there is little that can stop a truck loaded with auto parts. We know that there were no skid marks on the roadway. We can only guess as to why the driver of the tractor trailer did not brake.

       Information from The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has identified the trucking company from Alabama involved in the accident as Hester. Hester has had a poor safety rating from federal regulators and repeatedly failed roadside inspections.  The FMCSA gave Hester a rating of 88.4 based on a review of inspection in February.  The scoring range goes from 1-100, 100 being the worst score. Any score of 75 or more is considered deficient.

       The truck involved in this tragedy had been cited with problems ranging from lights, brakes, and emergency equipment.  These problems were identified in six roadside inspections since 2008.  There have not been any citations issued in 2009 or so far in 2010.

       A spokesman for the American Trucking Association said that based on the safety score the trucking company should not have been in operation. I will look with interest as the NTSB goes through their investigation. What will the driver’s log show? Was the vehicle in proper working order? Was there brake failure?  These are questions that any truck accident attorney would be interested in pursuing a wrongful death claim, as well as family and friends who are looking for answers. Although there is nothing that can be done to reverse this tragedy I hope the parties who are responsible will be held accountable. Based on the track record of Hester there is a good chance this accident could have been avoided.