Driver Fitness Research Articles

The “Human Element” in Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety

Highway freight and passenger transportation are vital contributors to national economic health and productivity. Although there has been considerable research into the design and operation of the highway system and the vehicles that use it, there has been relatively little concentrated research concerning the truck and bus driver – the human element responsible for moving the freight and passengers safely. The Federal Highway Administration's Office of Motor Carriers has developed a comprehensive multi-year plan to address the issues of driver proficiency, medical qualifications, and fitness for duty. The core of this plan will be a series of high-quality and scientifically sound research projects. The results of these projects will form the basis for regulatory changes that will be more technically defensible, better reflect the realities of the operating environments, and, to the extent possible, be based on performance standards.

Identifying safe versus unsafe drivers following brain impairment: the Coorabel Programme.

The Coorabel Driver Assessment and Training Programme commenced in January 1988, with the aim of providing assessments of the ability of people with a disability to resume or commence driving. This programme incorporates assessments by a medical practitioner, a neuropsychologist, an occupational therapist and a driving instructor, conducted both off and on the road. The first 129 consecutive referrals were reviewed. Non-brain-impaired clients demonstrated a lower failure rate relative to brain-impaired clients. Diagnosis was not found to have predictive value within the brain-impaired clients, and there was no statistical difference in failure rates between left and right hemispheric strokes. Whilst only six cases failed the medical assessment, in 47 cases the medical practitioner was unable to make a final decision regarding driver competence. Neuropsychological and on-road assessments resulted in definitive decisions for 39 of these 47 cases. Twenty cases passed the medical assessment but subsequently failed the neuropsychological or on-road assessment. Only three cases passed at neuropsychological assessment subsequently failed on-road testing. It is suggested that multidisciplinary assessment of driver competence, inclusive of on-road testing, is essential, as medical guidelines alone are insufficient to predict driver fitness.

Occupational performance of a paced secondary task under conditions of sensory deprivation

Twelve experienced train drivers were asked to operate the train function safety circuit (SIFA)--a paced secondary motor task which is expected to guarantee the driver's fitness for service on engines of the German Federal Railway--under laboratory conditions of extreme monotony. In spite of massive decreases in vigilance as shown by theta-activity in the EEG, all subjects were able to operate the device without major errors. A prerequisite for adequate performance is an EEG-defined arousal reaction, which is synchronized with the SIFA cycles. For 7 subjects the time-related cross-correlation coefficients between SIFA operation, alpha-activity (indicative of alertness), theta-activity (indicative of reduced vigilance), and heart rate were calculated. The central-nervous arousal found in the EEG corresponded to distinct increases in heart rate. The moments of SIFA operation after phases of light sleep correlated significantly and positively with increases in heart rate. These increases constituted a physiological overcompensation as far as the physical readiness was concerned which reached its peak after the task had been performed satisfactorily, constituting additional and superfluous occupational stress. The results of this study indicate clearly that monotony stress is not a result of occupational monotony itself, but the result of the physiological effort which is required in order to regain a level of alterness which allows adequate performance under monotonous conditions.

Motorways and Health —Accident Control

In an evaluation of the causes of motorway accidents the article examines the state of driver fitness and training in relation to the problems and costs of motorway driving. The three constituents of an accident, namely driver education, vehicle condition and highway environment, are considered in terms of possible improvement to achieve reductions in traffic accidents generally and motorway accidents in particular. (TRRL)