Professional drivers: protection needed for a high-risk occupation

Comparison of work-related traffic crashes between male taxi drivers aged ≥65 years and <65 years in South Korea

BACKGROUND

The percentage of drivers aged ≥65 years among all Korean taxi drivers has risen sharply from 3.2% in 2006 to 22.0% in 2016.

OBJECTIVE

This study compared the characteristics of work-related traffic crashes between male taxi drivers aged ≥65 years and <65 years.

METHODS

Using the national compensation data of South Korea, 586 injured male taxi drivers were analyzed based on driver-related (work experience, company size, employment status, injured body part, and injury type) and crash-related factors (time and day of the crash, weather condition, road type, violation and drowsiness) by age group.

RESULTS

For the injured drivers aged ≥65, percentages of the crashes related to some factors were lower than those of the drivers aged <65 years: at night (55.2% vs. 64.0%), on rainy or snowy day (7.8% vs. 21.3%), on straight road (40.5% vs 50.9%) and on the expressway (6.9% vs. 13.0%). However, the percentage of the crashes related to a violation for the injured drivers aged ≥65 years (23.3%) was higher than that of the drivers aged <65 years (13.4%). Furthermore, the taxi drivers aged ≥65 years had a higher death rate (14.7%) than the drivers aged <65 years (8.5%).

CONCLUSIONS

The results can be useful for injury prevention policies and guidelines for elderly taxi drivers such as strengthened qualification tests for the aged drivers and improvement of the working environment.

Temporal patterns of driving fatigue and driving performance among male taxi drivers in Hong Kong: A driving simulator approach

This study uses a questionnaire survey and a driving simulator test to investigate the temporal patterns of variations in driving fatigue and driving performance in 50 male taxi drivers in Hong Kong. Each driver visited the laboratory three times: before, during, and after a working shift. The survey contained a demographic questionnaire and the Brief Fatigue Inventory. A following-braking simulator test session was conducted at two speeds (50 and 80 km/h) by each driver at each of his three visits, and the driver's performance in brake reaction, lane control, speed control, and steering control were recorded. A random-effects modeling approach was incorporated to address the unobserved heterogeneity caused by the repeated measures. In the results, a recovery effect and a lagging effect were defined for the driving fatigue and performance measures because their temporal patterns were concavely quadratic and had a 1-hour delay compared to the temporal patterns of occupied taxi trips and taxi crash risk in Hong Kong. Demographic variables, such as net income and driver age, also had significant effects on the measured driving fatigue and performance. Policies regarding taxi management and operation based on the modeling results are proposed to alleviate the taxi safety situation in Hong Kong and worldwide.

Occupant-level injury severity analyses for taxis in Hong Kong: A Bayesian space-time logistic model

This study aimed to identify the factors affecting the crash-related severity level of injuries in taxis and quantify the associations between these factors and taxi occupant injury severity. Casualties resulting from taxi crashes from 2004 to 2013 in Hong Kong were divided into four categories: taxi drivers, taxi passengers, private car drivers and private car passengers. To avoid any biased interpretation caused by unobserved spatial and temporal effects, a Bayesian hierarchical logistic modeling approach with conditional autoregressive priors was applied, and four different model forms were tested. For taxi drivers and passengers, the model with space-time interaction was proven to most properly address the unobserved heterogeneity effects. The results indicated that time of week, number of vehicles involved, weather, point of impact and driver age were closely associated with taxi drivers' injury severity level in a crash. For taxi passengers' injury severity an additional factor, taxi service area, was influential. To investigate the differences between taxis and other traffic, similar models were established for private car drivers and passengers. The results revealed that although location in the network and driver gender significantly influenced private car drivers' injury severity, they did not influence taxi drivers' injury severity. Compared with taxi passengers, the injury severity of private car passengers was more sensitive to average speed and whether seat belts were worn. Older drivers, urban taxis and fatigued driving were identified as factors that increased taxi occupant injury severity in Hong Kong.

Operating styles, working time and daily driving distance in relation to a taxi driver's speeding offenses in Taiwan

This study explored the determinant factors of taxi drivers' speeding violations in Taiwan. Data were gathered from a nation wide survey and included 6923 professional taxi drivers in 2006. The results indicated that 96.6% were males and 92.5% had less than a college level education. Daily working hours were from 2.5 h to 15 h with a mean of 10.12 h. The data also indicated that taxi drivers worked approximately 27.35 days and only took 2.65 days rest per month. Of the observed taxi drivers, 25.6% reported at least one speeding violation in a one-year period. The results of a generalized linear model (GLM) revealed that the determinant factors associating with a taxi driver's speeding violation were not related to gender or educational level. However, age, job experience, operating styles, kilometers driven daily, driving late at night, and monthly off duty days were significantly associated with committing the speeding violations.

Observed seatbelt usage among drivers of heavy commercial vehicles in Utah

National seatbelt observation surveys indicate commercial vehicle drivers' seatbelt usage is lower than passenger vehicle drivers. Seatbelts are effective at preventing injuries and death following motor vehicle crashes and an important component in decreasing morbidity and mortality related to commercial vehicle crashes. We conducted an observation survey of heavy commercial vehicle drivers' seatbelt usage to gather baseline data and to aid in planning prevention programs. We found that the observed heavy commercial vehicle drivers had a seatbelt usage rate of 64%, approximately 20% lower than the national rate for drivers of passenger vehicles. Our observations demonstrate a need to increase seatbelt usage among heavy commercial vehicle drivers. Specific programs and resources for intervention programs targeting heavy commercial vehicle drivers are warranted.

Environmental factors associated with crash-related mortality and injury among taxi drivers in New South Wales, Australia

This exploratory study aims to investigate the associations between some environmental factors and the increased risk of motor vehicle crash-related injuries among taxi drivers. Information utilised in the study are obtained from police reports of all road traffic accidents that occurred on the roads between 1996 and 2000 in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Of the 7923 taxi drivers who involved in crashes, nearly 10% (n = 750) were killed or injured. Results indicate sex, and two environmental factors are significantly associated with an increased risk of crash-related mortality and injury among taxi drivers. The adjusted relative risk of crash-related mortality and injury is increased by 60% for those who work the night shift (OR = 1.59, 95%CI = 1.35-1.88), and by 20% for those who do not carry any passenger on board (OR = 1.20, 95%CI = 1.02-1.41) should these drivers involve in a crash. The increased relative risk of crash-related mortality and injury is nearly 2.5 times for female taxi drivers (OR = 2.30, 95%CI = 1.45-3.65) when compared with their male counterparts.

Aetiological factors contributing to road traffic accidents in Riyadh City, Saudi Arabia

The study analysed 13,390 police records of road traffic accidents (RTAs) covering a three and a half year period according to different suspected aetiological factors. The majority of the accidents were recorded for vehicles in good condition on well-paved straight roads with well-operating traffic light systems. Adverse weather conditions such as precipitation, fog and dust were of minimal importance, with most of the accidents being reported during sunny days during the rush period of 12 noon to 3 pm. Driver's error was identified as the main contributing factor in about two thirds of all RTAs mainly as reckless driving and excess speeding. About 27% of the drivers were professional drivers and 41% were in the age group 25-35 years in good health with no alcohol or drug intake. Hence, human errors may be attributed to carelessness, experience, lack of knowledge or attention, over-exhaustion or fatigue. The effects of physical stressors on performance of drivers need to be further explored and clarified but this need not underestimate the importance of vehicle and environment since most accidents are multifactoral and a slight change in them may effectively enhance perception and minimise personal error. Recommendations for remedial measures adopting an interdisciplinary approach are presented.

Representativeness of deaths identified through the injury-at-work item on the death certificate: implications for surveillance

BACKGROUND

This research investigated the accuracy of the injury-at-work item on the death certificate for surveillance of occupational injury deaths in Oklahoma during 1985 and 1986.

METHODS

Representativeness of occupational injury deaths identified by death certificates was assessed by comparing these deaths with all occupational injury deaths identified through death certificates, workers' compensation reports, medical examiner reports, and OSHA records for categories of occupation, industry, and external causes of death.

RESULTS

Certain external causes of death (e.g., motor vehicle traffic deaths) and certain occupations (e.g., farming) and industries (agriculture and services) are more often underidentified through death certificates.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings of this study support Baker's observation that no single data source contains all deaths or all the data elements necessary to describe occupational injury deaths. Data sources may be combined to improve representativeness through more complete case ascertainment.