Exploring background risk factors for fatigue crashes involving truck drivers on regional roadway networks: a case control study in Jiangxi and Shaanxi, China.

Changkun Chen,Jun Zhang

doi:10.1186/s40064-016-2261-y

Abstract

BackgroundFatigue driving is a leading cause of traffic fatalities and injuries in China, especially among heavy truck drivers. The present study tried to examine which and how factors within the human-vehicle-roadway-environment system contribute to the occurrence of crashes involving fatigued truck drivers.FindingsTo reduce such risk on the road, a total of 9168 crashes which occurred in Jiangxi and Shaanxi between 2003 and 2014 were selected to measure the effects of potential factors on fatigue related truck crashes using a case control study. Pearson Chi-square test was used to determine the relationship between crash risk and independent factors, and a stepwise logistic regression model was developed to determine the significant risk factors. According to the data analysis results, driver’s gender, age, driving experience, and overspeeding behavior, vehicle’s commercial status, overloading conditions and brake performance, road’s type, slippery pavement and existence of sharp curve and long steep grade, and time of day, season, weather and visibility conditions, etc. were identified to be significantly associated with fatigue related truck crashes on Jiangxi and Shaanxi highways. Moreover, it is found that (a) in Jiangxi, an employed truck driver has a higher risk of crash involving multi-vehicles or a passenger car at bridge locations, and (b) in Shaanxi, the adult, tunnel location, summer and winter days prohibit statistically significant association with the occurrence of multi-vehicle and single-vehicle run-off-road/rollover crashes.ConclusionsYoung employed male truck drivers with less experience are at high risk, especially while driving across sharp curves, down long steep grades, over bridge or through tunnels, during the midnight period, on rainy, snowy or foggy days in rural areas. All these help recommend potential policy initiatives as well as effective safety promotion strategies at the public health scale for professional truck drivers.

Highlights

Fatigue driving is a leading cause of traffic fatalities and injuries in China, especially among heavy truck drivers
Young employed male truck drivers with less experience are at high risk, especially while driving across sharp curves, down long steep grades, over bridge or through tunnels, during the midnight period, on rainy, snowy or foggy days in rural areas
Consistent with present findings in the literature, our results reveal that the commercial male truck drivers with less experience exhibit a propensity for fatigue crashes, because they are doing a high-risk job and have to drive more often and longer on the road, under time constraints, as well as are more frequent to engage in risky driving behaviours, such as over-speeding and over-loading

Summary

Introduction

Fatigue driving is a leading cause of traffic fatalities and injuries in China, especially among heavy truck drivers. Drivers’ demographic characteristics are a significant contributory factor affecting fatigue-related truck crashes (Di Milia et al 2011) Among these factors, young male drivers with less driving experience exhibited the highest risk for being involved in fatigue-related crashes (Davenne et al 2012). Truck drivers usually have to face stressful working conditions, with long work hours and tight schedules (Arnold et al 1997; Cœugnet et al 2013), such as night time driving, irregular rest times, etc., and even do the non-driving physical work (i.e. loading, unloading, heavy lifting, etc.), too As a result, they have an insufficient amount of time to rest and recover between shifts, which can lead to fatigue (Di Milia 2006; Choi et al 2014)

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