Coffee is an indispensable drink for many truckers in Connecticut, but one study warns that drinking lots of it can cause health problems and raise truckers’ risk for a crash. The study was conducted by a U.K. transport safety expert and researchers at the Virginia Tech Transport Institute, and its results were published in the journal Safety Science.
A total of 3,007 drivers from eight states were selected for study because of their coffee-drinking habits. On the one hand were those who drink only one cup a day; 21.6% said they were in a crash in the previous three years. On the other hand were those who said they drink over five cups a day; 27.8% of these made the same confession.
Not only that, but based on medical reports and truckers’ answers to the researchers’ questionnaire, the high coffee drinkers were found to suffer from poorer health overall. This was characterized by poor sleep and an unhealthy diet. This group also tended to smoke and consume more alcohol.
Poor health and higher crash risk may be linked to high coffee consumption, but researchers explain that they have not necessarily determined a cause-effect relationship. They readily admit that high amounts of coffee consumption for the short term, not the long term, may be beneficial for truckers.
Those who have been injured through no fault of their own in truck crashes may be able to file a claim, but they will likely need to know just how the other side was negligent. For truckers just as much as for other drivers, negligent behaviors can range from drowsy driving to driving while impaired by drugs or alcohol. Whatever the nature of their case, victims may want a lawyer to assess it.
