Gibson swerved onto the gravel shoulder and lost control of his car, which crossed back across the road and was hit by an oncoming truck. The impact broke his neck, and Gibson was forced to wear a neck brace for more than three months. He still suffers effects from the accident. The truck driver was charged with careless driving. Traffic rumbles along Highway 401.
Chances are that, among the drivers hurrying down the busy corridor, some are half asleep.
There are more than 600,000 truck trips a week on the main highways in Canada. Brian Orrbine, senior policy advisor in road safety for Transport Canada, says most Canadian statistics on fatigue-related accidents hide the problem. A 1998 study showed only six out of 380 truck-related fatalities were attributed to fatigue. It is difficult to gather statistics for many reasons, including the fact that drivers are hesitant to admit they have fallen asleep at the wheel. Transport Canada is looking at proposals to increase the number of hours of rest a truck driver gets each day from eight hours to 10 by decreasing the hours of service by two hours.