Seatbelt use among US truckers improves

WASHINGTON — Seat belt usage among truck drivers is steadily improving, but the industry still has a long way to go, according to a recent the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

According to the study most fatal crashes involving truck drivers are the result of trucks running off the road, rolling over, or hitting a large stationary object. Many of the drivers killed in these types of crashes died because they failed to wear their shoulder belts.

Like a previous 2002 study, the 2005 study was a nationally (U.S) representative sample survey of shoulder belt usage by 4,740 trucks and CMV drivers of Class 7 and Class 8 vehicles.

According to the FMCSA, in 2005 seat belt usage for all Class 7 and 8 trucks was 54 percent, up from the 48 percent reported in 2002, but still far off the 83 percent compliance rate of car drivers.

The 2002 usage rate for drivers of those units where the truck was identified as a major regional or national fleet was 55 percent, versus 44 percent for independent or local fleets. The usage rate increased significantly to 63 percent in 2005 for the major national or regional fleets, the study stated.

“The slight drop in usage rate for independent or local fleets was not statistically significant,” according to the report. “This suggests that local fleets may either not be getting the message or may not be as motivated to use belts as their long-haul counterparts. Alternatively, it may suggest that they are more likely to have lap belts than shoulder belts, thus, less likely to be observed as users.”

Among cargo types, the highest usage rates were observed among the drivers of single tankers and hazmat tractor-trailer combinations. The lowest rates were observed in single dump trucks and bobtails, the study found. In 2002 the drivers of tractors pulling trailers with a hazmat placard displayed had the highest usage rate (67%) of any of the various categories observed and in 2005 tied for highest usage rate (75%) with single tankers.

There were significant increases in usage rates between 2002 and 2005 for single vans (51% to 62%), single tankers (61% to 75%), all others (39% to 47%). The 2002 to 2005 changes for single dump trucks, doubles, bobtails, and hazmat were not statistically significant.

The FMCSA aims to continue to increase shoulder belt use among CMV drivers and to reduce the total number of CMV-related fatalities to 1.65 per 100 million CMV miles traveled by 2008.