A REPORT ON THE DETERMINATION AND EVALUATION OF THE ROLE OF FATIGUE IN HEAVY TRUCK ACCIDENTS

A total of 255 accident reports on heavy truck accidents in 6 Western states were studied, and 221 of them had sufficient data to permit backtracking of the driver's preaccident activities, and a determination of the probable role of fatigue in the accident. The details of the study are described, and the results are discussed. It was found that fatigue is the probable/primary cause of 41% of the heavy truck accidents. It was also found that the number of over-hour drivers could be reduced by supplying enforcement agencies with the proper tools. The most reliable tool possible is the time-stamping and dating of all freight and fuel documents on each trip. A patrolman with a mileaged map and a $10.00 calculator could readily discover hours of service violations in the field if these documents were required to be time-stamped.

• Corporate Authors:

  AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety

  607 14th Street, NW, Suite 201
  Washington, DC    20005

  Transportation and Marketing

  P.O. Box 914
  Challis, ID  United States  83226
• Publication Date: 1985-10

Media Info

• Pagination: 110 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crash causes; Drivers; Fatigue (Physiological condition); Highway safety; Traffic crashes; Traffic law enforcement; Traffic violations; Truck drivers; Trucks
• Subject Areas: Motor Carriers; Safety and Human Factors; Security and Emergencies;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00495778
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• Report/Paper Numbers: HS-039 674
• Files: HSL, USDOT
• Created Date: Jul 31 1990 12:00AM