DOZING AT WHEEL A BIG PROBLEM

Too many drivers fall asleep behind the wheel, says Missouri Highway Patrol Sgt. Brent Davis.

"It has been a huge, huge problem for many, many years," Davis said.

After 14 years of patrolling the roads out of Sikeston, Davis estimates 20 to 30 percent of accidents where alcohol wasn't a factor involved sleeping drivers. It's hard to determine an exact number.

"You can only suspect it with an absence of alcohol," he said.

Davis suspects drowsy driving in single-car accidents when the car is mechanically sound and the weather is clear.

Technical and engineering improvements have only added to the problem, he said.

"You get a big, fine car on cruise control driving along an interstate that doesn't bend or curve late at night, and it's going to rock you to sleep," Davis said.

At least three serious accidents in the past month in Southeast Missouri were attributed to sleeping drivers. One was fatal.

Traffic had been stopped on Interstate 55 for construction about 12:30 a.m. on June 16 when a tractor-trailer driver crashed into the end of a line of cars. The driver was asleep until he ran into Charles Beal's car. The Cape Girardeau real-estate agent died at the scene.

"We had a patrol car sitting out there, and that truck just barrelled past it at full speed," Davis said.

For the most part, those guilty of driving beyond their limits are not tractor-trailer drivers, said Capt. Dwight Hartung of the patrol's Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division.

"Cars are at fault more often than the long-haul drivers," he said.

Hartung has seen few infractions involving drug use to keep drivers awake. Less than 1 percent of drivers test positive for drug use during spot tests administered by state and federal agencies, he said.

The most common violations tractor-trailer drivers commit are driving with poor brakes or keeping inaccurate log books, Hartung said. The log books, in which drivers record their hours on the road, are easily falsified. Davis said, "They just keep two or three sets of books."

By law, tractor-trailer drivers cannot exceed 10 hours a day or 70 hours on the road a week, said Steve Waters, director of the state Division of Motor Carrier and Railroad Safety. When they do, drivers are fined.

On average, drivers who are fined pay $1,000, which usually involves more than one infraction, Waters said. Independent drivers who own and operate their own trucks typically have more violations.

"The individual drivers won't keep records as well, but they still need to comply with pre-employment drug testing, accurate logs and everything else that motor-carrier companies do," he said.

Drivers who work for companies have little incentive to drive more than 10 hours a day, said Michael Gregory, terminal manager for Beaufort Transfer Co. of Cape Girardeau. Copies of drivers' logs are kept in the office for accuracy. Once a driver reaches his limit, Gregory stops the truck, but the driver is still being paid.

"We have to pay them to go to bed," Gregory said.

Companies also avoid problems by hiring only experienced drivers, he said.

"When you get into an 80,000-pound truck, you can't maneuver it like a car," he said.