MARCH 3, 2015
Many truck drivers do not use a seat belt on every trip
Our nation depends on truck drivers to deliver goods and services safely and efficiently. Yet, crashes involving large trucks continue to take a toll on truck drivers, their passengers, other road users, businesses, and the community.
Overall, a staggering 317,000 motor vehicle crashes involving large trucks were reported to police in 2012, according to the latest Vital Signs report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The estimated cost of truck and bus crashes to the United States economy was $99 billion that same year.
About 2.6 million workers in the US drive trucks that weigh over 10,000 pounds. After dropping to 35-year lows in 2009, the number of crash fatalities of truck drivers or their passengers increased between 2009 and 2012. Approximately 700 drivers of large trucks or their passengers died in crashes in 2012, and an estimated 26,000 were injured. About 65 percent of on-the-job deaths of truck drivers in 2012 were the result of a motor vehicle crash. More than a third of the drivers who died were not wearing a seat belt.
"We know that using a seat belt is the single most effective intervention to prevent injury or death in a motor vehicle crash. However, in 2012 more than 1 in 3 truck drivers who died in crashes were not buckled up, a simple step which could have prevented up to 40 percent of these deaths "said CDC Principal Deputy Director Ileana Arias, Ph.D. “Employers and government agencies at all levels can help improve truck driver safety and increase seat belt use among truck drivers by having strong company safety programs and enforcing state and federal laws."
This Vital Signs report includes data from the National Survey of US Long-Haul Truck Driver Health and Injury, conducted by CDC at 32 truck stops along interstate highways across the United States in 2010. Key findings from the survey include:
- An estimated 14 percent of long-haul truck drivers reported not using a seat belt on every trip.
- Over one-third of long-haul truck drivers had been involved in one or more serious crashes during their driving careers.
- Long-haul truck drivers who reported not wearing seat belts also tended to engage in other unsafe driving behaviors such as speeding and committing moving violations. They were also more likely to work for an employer that did not have a written workplace safety program.
- Long-haul truck drivers who lived in a state with a primary seat belt law – the law that allows police to stop motorists solely for being unbelted – were more likely to report often using a seat belt.
What can be done to reduce the risk of motor vehicle crashes, injuries, and deaths among truck drivers?
- States can help increase seat belt use by truck drivers through high-visibility enforcement of seat belt laws by state troopers and motor carrier safety inspectors.
- Employers can establish and enforce company safety policies, including belt-use requirements for truck drivers and passengers as well as bans on text-messaging and use of handheld phones.
- Employers can educate truck drivers about ways to avoid distracted and drowsy driving.
- Engineering and design changes that provide increased comfort and range of motion and allow adjustments for diverse body types might increase use of seat belts by truck drivers.
For general information about motor vehicle safety, please visit CDC's Injury Prevention & Control: Motor Vehicle Safety. Vital Signs is a CDC report that appears on the first Tuesday of the month as part of the CDC journal Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, or MMWR. The report provides the latest data and information on key health indicators. These are cancer prevention, obesity, tobacco use, motor vehicle passenger safety, prescription drug overdose, HIV/AIDS, alcohol use, health care-associated infections, cardiovascular health, teen pregnancy, and food safety.
//-----------------------------------------//
CRASHES CAUSE MAJORITY OF DEATHS FOR TRUCK DRIVERS
MARCH 3, 2015
WASHINGTON, DC
(HEALTHDAY NEWS)
Truck crashes cause approximately 65 percent of on-the-job
deaths of truck drivers in the United States, making it the top cause of
work-related deaths in that occupation, a federal government report shows.
There are about 2.6 million people in the United States who
drive trucks weighing more than 10,000 pounds. The number of crash deaths among
these drivers and their passengers fell to a 35-year low in 2009, but rose
between then and 2012.
In 2012, about 317,000 crashes involving large trucks were
reported to police. Seven hundred drivers of large trucks or their passengers
died in crashes, and about 26,000 were injured.
More than a third of the truck drivers who died were not
wearing a seat belt, according to the Vital Signs report from the U.S. Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention.
"We know that using a seat belt is the single most
effective intervention to prevent injury or death in a motor vehicle crash.
However, in 2012, more than one in three truck drivers who died in crashes were
not buckled up, a simple step which could have prevented up to 40 percent of
these deaths," CDC Principal Deputy Director Ileana Arias said in an
agency news release.
"Employers and government agencies at all levels can
help improve truck driver safety and increase seat belt use among truck drivers
by having strong company safety programs and enforcing state and federal
laws," she added.
One-third of long-haul truck drivers have been involved in
one or more serious crashes during their driving careers, the report said.
About 14 percent of long-haul truckers said they did not use
a seat belt on every trip. Those who said they didn't wear a seat belt also
tended to have other unsafe habits, such as speeding, and to work for an
employer without a written workplace safety program.
Long-haul truckers who live in states with laws that permit
police to stop motorists for not wearing a seat belt were more likely to say
they often use a seat belt, according to the report.
Stephanie Pratt is the coordinator of the National Institute
for Occupational Safety and Health Center for Motor Vehicle Safety. She said,
"Using a seat belt is the most effective way to prevent injury or death in
the event of a crash," in the news release.
"The smartest strategy for overall safety is to prevent
truck crashes from happening in the first place. Employers can help prevent
crashes and injuries through comprehensive driver safety programs that address
other known risk factors such as drowsy and distracted driving," she said.
Trucking companies should create and enforce company safety
policies, including seat belt requirements for drivers and passengers, and bans
on text messaging and the use of handheld phones, the report suggested.
Increased enforcement of seat belt laws by state troopers
could also encourage truckers to buckle up. Changes in truck engineering and
design that provide truckers with improved comfort, range of motion and
adjustments for different body types might also help increase seat belt use.
More information
The American College of Emergency Physicians has more about seat belts.
