Who is doom and gloom now■■?
quote=“jimboy124”]http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/oxfords
Jimboy124. you claim to be an HGV Driver. I find it amazing that the only comment,that you have to make about the case of 61 year old driver King, who has just been sentenced to 3 years and nine months goal, for causing death by dangerous driving, is " Drugs."
I do not know whether you have read the many reports about this case, which happened in July 2006. But ,if not, and for your information, Driver King was, AFTER the crash found to be suffering from Sleep Apnoea. This is a condition, which until it has been diagnosed ,you know nothing about. You may well be in bed for 12 hours, but in that time, this illness, without you being aware, will wake you up many times, thereby depriving you of real sleep. In this man,s case, he had been involved in a catastrophic accident, resulting in the death of a whole family.There have been cases where multi death accidents have ocurred, where the driver has indeed been under the influence of drink or drugs, and has recieved a lighter sentence than that handed down to driver King. Pray that you never suffer from the same illness as Driver King. I have seen and heard many ill-conceived comments in my time. Yours just about takes the biscuit.
Clarkson fan:
Jimboy124. you claim to be an HGV Driver. I find it amazing that the only comment,that you have to make about the case of 61 year old driver King, who has just been sentenced to 3 years and nine months goal, for causing death by dangerous driving, is " Drugs."
I do not know whether you have read the many reports about this case, which happened in July 2006. But ,if not, and for your information, Driver King was, AFTER the crash found to be suffering from Sleep Apnoea. This is a condition, which until it has been diagnosed ,you know nothing about. You may well be in bed for 12 hours, but in that time, this illness, without you being aware, will wake you up many times, thereby depriving you of real sleep. In this man,s case, he had been involved in a catastrophic accident, resulting in the death of a whole family.There have been cases where multi death accidents have ocurred, where the driver has indeed been under the influence of drink or drugs, and has recieved a lighter sentence than that handed down to driver King. Pray that you never suffer from the same illness as Driver King. I have seen and heard many ill-conceived comments in my time. Yours just about takes the biscuit.
“DRUGS” is a link in his footer and shows in all of his posts since he last updated it. It is in no relation to this post…have a look at a few of his other recent posts and you will see what i mean 
Also look at the title of the post! Think you got it wrong Clarkson fan!
Stevewoods:
Also look at the title of the post! Think you got it wrong Clarkson fan!
And if you hover on the DRUGS link you can see clearly that it takes you to another you tube video.
I would think that the link to a BBC story about a fellow HGV driver with sleep apnoea on a professional drivers forum is quite fitting
Jimboy 124. I apologise for my mis-understanding of your post…I was wound up because some clown on The Sun online, in a post had referred to Driver Clark as a " murdering git". I stand Corrected.
In any event, if you suffer from sleep aponea, the treatment you would most likely be prescribed by your GP would be erm, DRUGS.
I thought treatment for apnoea was some kind of respirator?
Kiowan:
I thought treatment for apnoea was some kind of respirator?
Not sure if they will let you drive here using a respirator. I worked with a driver who was wired up to his cig lighter socket at night but he was driving a german truck on a german licence.
treatment for OSA is not drugs,it is either a respirator or some kind of plate that fits over your teeth to hold the bottom jaw forward while asleep , or an operation to improve the strength of your windpipe to stop it closing while asleep.
WE also have this problem here in Germany and
thankfully the medical insurance firms do
pay for all the required checks that are needed to help
elevate the condition,by useing the sleep-labs and also
giveing those who suffer from this illness a special
breathing apparatus so that a full period of sleep can be taken
and the driver is then okay to carry out their work with no worrys
about falling asleep,is this carried out in the UK as well ■■
The button mushroom is the answer 
brit pete:
WE also have this problem here in Germany and
thankfully the medical insurance firms do
pay for all the required checks that are needed to help
elevate the condition,by useing the sleep-labs and also
giveing those who suffer from this illness a special
breathing apparatus so that a full period of sleep can be taken
and the driver is then okay to carry out their work with no worrys
about falling asleep,is this carried out in the UK as well ■■
It is not allowed here Pete, The driver I know worked for Gruber and he had his truck wired up for his breathing pump to work, it was always quite tempting to knock the isolator switch off. Sharing a cabin on the ferry was a nightmare
Then that is a shame ,as the germans
would not allow any one who may be
a danger to themselves and other
road users to carry on working ,
the germans do carry out extensive
research and testing before allowing
any one to drive and some how I have
never heard in all the time that i have
been driveing here that a driver who is
useing one of these kits to have had
a accident due to falling asleep,
I’m not clued up on this subject. Do people who have this type of sleep problem have any warning or general signs that something is wrong with them 
Bringing this post back on track though. The report I read about it suggests that the driver was not diagnosed with sleep apnoea until after the accident.
A test on all HGV drivers would not be possible as it normally means an observed sleep or at least a wired up period to see if you have the problem.
You can easily test for diabetes, blood pressure or eyesight but testing for this would be difficult.
However sympathy is offered to the families of the victims
Wheel Nut:
A test on all HGV drivers would not be possible as it normally means an observed sleep or at least a wired up period to see if you have the problem.You can easily test for diabetes, blood pressure or eyesight but testing for this would be difficult.
Whilst I sort of agree with you surely we are getting to the stage with the amount of sleep apneoa incidents that some sort of testing has got to be carried out.It won’t be 100% practical but I think that testing has to be introduced with say a test in every medical 45 and over and I stand to be corrected but it does seem to be a problem which does affect 45+ age group.
The test is 1 night wired up to a machine which can be done at home.
It is a small gesture on our part but surely if it saves 1 life your own or someone elses it is a small price to pay and would be more than worth it.
I recently have been diagnosed as suffering from mild sleep apnoae.
The symptoms , in my case, were of being tired ALL the time, getting up in a morning was hard and I didn’t feel rested.
After driving for an hour or maybe a bit more I had to stop for a quick rest, 10 mins or so and then I was OK for most of the day.
There is a period of being aware that you are VERY tired, if you are prepared to recognise it!
It is not the same as simply having one or two bad nights kip.
Another sign that you may suffer from this besides being tired is if you have to get up through the night for the loo. This is because as you move from deep sleep to light sleep your brain sends signals to the bladder that it is nearly time to empty.
Diagnosis is by simply wearing an oximeter overnight, at home. This consists of a small gadget, about the size of an i-pod on a wrist strap and a clip with a wire on to your index finger.
This measure the oxygen level in your blood supply,
Each time your oxygen drops you wake up (not enough to be actually awake) from deep sleep into shallow sleep. The device measure how many time a night this happens, in my case 10-12 times a night.
treatment.
can be by using breathing equipment, by an operation or by wearing a plate on the lower jaw which pushes the jaw forward causing the airway to open more.(only at nights)
Losing weight is also strongly recommended if you are overweight.
Notification to DVLA or Vosa etc is not mandatory in mild cases, although if the illness progresses then the consultant is obliged to notify them.
Once you know that you have this problem, then falling asleep at the wheel should not happen because you are aware of the tired feeling coming on and have time to pull in somewhere, even between motorway services.
I know that a lot of drivers have very anti body clock start and finish times so does anyone think that the nature of the job has anything to do with this condition