Report reveals heavy-vehicle crash dangers

A recently-published Australian study has highlighted the dangers faced by heavy-vehicle drivers working after dark

A recent study of over 1000 Australian truck drivers has revealed that obstructive sleep apnoea poses less of a crash risk than driving between 12.00am and 6.00am, driving with an unladen trailer, skipping regular rest breaks, and driving without the aid of vehicle safety devices.

The report, conducted by a team of researchers headed by Dr Mark Stevenson of Melbourne’s Monash University Accident Research Centre and published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, examined truck drivers who were working in New South Wales and Western Australia between 2008 and 2011. The research focused on 530 heavy-vehicle drivers who had crashed recently and 517 who hadn’t.

Drivers in the study had to wear a nasal flow monitor for one night to indicate the prevalence of obstructive sleep apnoea.

The report found that the condition, though common among heavy-vehicle drivers, seemed to have no impact on the likelihood of afflicted drivers being involved in an accident.

“Despite the high prevalence of obstructive sleep apnoea, it was not associated with the risk of a heavy vehicle non-fatal, non-severe crash,” states the report’s abstract.

Instead, the research flagged driving between midnight and 6.00am, inexperience, having an empty load, missing rest breaks and a lack of vehicle safety devices as contributing factors to an increased crash risk.

“Scheduling of driving to avoid midnight-to-dawn driving and the use of more frequent rest breaks are likely to reduce the risk of heavy-vehicle, non-fatal, non-severe crashes by two to three times,” the report concludes.

Dr Stevenson said that despite the report’s findings, there was no room for complacency among drivers who suffer from sleep apnoea.

“We did see a very high proportion of drivers who had or were likely to suffer from sleep apnoea in both our crash and control groups,” he said.

“These drivers can be coming to the job with sleep deprivation, which can definitely cause alertness issues behind the wheel.”

Report reveals heavy-vehicle crash dangers

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