Driving ban for snoring
MORE than 200 people were barred from driving lorries or buses last year because they snored so much they could not get a good night’s sleep.
Official figures reveal that 241 were declared unfit due to sleep apnoea.
Sufferers snore so badly they continually wake themselves up because their airways are blocked. This makes them dangerous because they might fall asleep while driving.
They were among 262 people suffering from a sleep disorder who were barred last year from operating Large Goods Vehicles or Passenger Carrying Vehicles – almost double the number in just two years.
The DVLA makes bus and lorry drivers take a medical at 45, then every five years until 65. From that age the medical is carried out every year.
Drivers have to complete a medical questionnaire and be assessed by a doctor before they can stay driving.
Last year some 11,213 people were stopped from driving larger vehicles due to ill health, up from 10,705 in the previous 12 months. Of these, 430 people had alcohol-related problems, 3,875 heart and blood pressure conditions and 1,152 poor sight. A DVLA spokesman said: “By law, all drivers must meet certain minimum medical standards. This is to protect the driver and other road users.”
Coach and lorry drivers dozing at the wheel have caused horrific crashes. In June last year, lorry driver Roger Sharratt, 52, was convicted of causing the deaths of Geoffrey Mills, 53 and his sister Eleanor, 45. He fell asleep before smashing into stationary cars at 55mph on the M11 in Essex. His defence team said he had an undiagnosed sleep apnoea.
Sharratt was given a threeyear jail sentence.
In 2016, some 521 people died after crashes involving lorries, buses or coaches. In 190, driver fatigue played a part.
In one, Michael Hughes’ lorry smashed through the M62 central reservation. A van driver was seriously hurt in the resulting pile-up. Hughes, 63, despite feeling sleepy, did not stop at services. He was jailed for nine months after admitting dangerous driving.
In 2017 Mariusz Wlazlo, 47, fell asleep at the wheel of his lorry on the M6, smashed into two cars and left a woman seriously injured.
The Polish national with a clean UK licence told police: “I think I sleep for a moment. I can’t explain as I don’t remember. It was like a dream.” He admitted dangerous driving and was jailed for 16 months.