It can happen to you
Driving while distracted – whether by eating or by talking on the phone or being too tired to concentrate – can cost you your life. Increasingly companies are turning to safety experts to help working drivers understand and change their driving behaviours.
According to the World Health Organisation, road casualties will be the third biggest killer in the world by 2020. For at-work drivers, human factors such as responses to time pressure, fatigue and distraction are the main causes. In fact, nearly 80 percent of crashes and 65 percent of near-crashes involve some form of driver inattention, such as use of mobile phone, within three seconds before the event, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Virginia Tech Transportation.
"Raising awareness among drivers and getting them to recognise that they are at risk is one of the first steps towards saving lives," says Dr Lisa Dorn, Head of the Driving Research Group at Cranfield University in England.
Avoiding road accidents
Dorn reflects on a tendency for professional drivers to believe that because they are highly skilled, they won’t get into road accidents. “While you may have fully mastered difficult driving skills, you also need to accept your limitations,” Dorn says. “We all make mistakes and have lapses of attention. Drivers need to understand that they, like everyone else, can be fallible, and when those mistakes happen, they can lose their lives.”People who drive for work are often anxious about being late and are more likely to get involved in road accidents than people who are just carrying on with their journey. “The stress could be because the organisation that the driver is working for is concerned more about profit than road safety,” Dorn says. “Then it is important to make sure that risk is being managed at work and that training is in place to cope with the demands of driving for work.”
Measuring driving behaviours
One method gathering momentum is to raise awareness about personal risk by asking drivers how they think and feel about driving using Cranfield University’s psychometric assessment, called the Fleet Driver Risk Index or FDRI. More than 10,000 people, from police officers trained in high-speed driving techniques to delivery-van drivers, have taken part in the online assessment. Many have gone on to coaching or training aimed at changing their driving behaviours.
“Companies that have used this system report several benefits,” Dorn says. “Road accident rates have been cut with a corresponding reduction in costs to the business and human consequences. Employees report that they feel more confident in carrying out the driving element of their job. And insurers view these companies more favourably.”
Helping drivers understand and modify their driving behaviours eliminates some dangerous habits. For example, Dorn points out, it is important for drivers to stay “in the moment” and not let their thoughts wander to what is going on at work or home. “Stress severely interferes with performance, and sitting behind a wheel feeling stressed is not a good place to be,” she says.
Sleep increases road safety
Driving under pressure and for long periods of time leads to fatigue, and this can also result in road accidents. Many crashes due to fatigue tend to happen in the early morning hours or late afternoon. This follows circadian rhythms, which control our biological clock. “It is important to be aware of our limitations and know when we are the most vulnerable to fatigue, and perhaps time our breaks better,” says Dorn. “Certain roads and conditions also contribute to fatigue, and it is important that drivers get such information.”Dorn has been studying driving behaviours since the early 1980s, when there were only a handful of people researching the topic. Since then, there has been an explosion of interest. “More and more people are realising that a lot can be done to offset the dangers of driving and that we can implement interventions to ensure road safety,” she says.
Wearing seatbelts is key
One area is wearing seatbelts. A younger generation of drivers who didn’t grow up with the seatbelt campaigns of the 1970s and ’80s think wearing seatbelts is unnecessary, and not wearing them “a bit cool,” says Dorn. And some believe it is safer without seatbelts.A recent UK government study clearly disputes this. It found that about 300 lives a year can be saved by wearing seatbelts.
Buckle up!
Tips for safe driving
- If you are tired, stop and rest.
- Wear a seatbelt.
- Do good visual searches and use your mirrors.
- Try to anticipate hazards before they happen.
- Maintain smooth operation of pedals.
- Stay in the moment and concentrate.
Did you know?
- At least 16 percent of truck drivers suffer from sleep apnoea. People with a neck size of 17 inches or more are at greater risk for sleep apnoea than others.
- Distraction is the No. 1 cause of crashes and near misses.
- Road crashes are the most frequent cause of accidental death among young males.
- Drivers who have just passed their driving test are at most risk of having an accident.
- Drivers modify their behaviours after experiencing a crash.
- Behavioural training or coaching reduces accidents by 25 percent.
