Seat belts key to truck safety

A US Government report has revealed that up to 40 per cent of truck driver deaths caused through road traffic accidents could have been avoided had the drivers involved been wearing their seat belts.

The latest Vital Signs report, released recently by the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Center for Motor Vehicle Safety), states that a third of truck drivers who died in crashes in America in 2012 weren't wearing their seat belt.

Large trucks were involved in over 317,000 road traffic accidents in America in 2012, reportedly costing the US economy $US99 billion.

While truck driver fatalities in America dropped to a 35-year low in 2009, they climbed between 2009 and 2012. The report states that around 700 drivers of trucks or their passengers died in road traffic accidents in 2012 and that around 26,000 were injured.

Deaths stemming from road traffic accidents accounted for around 65 per cent of on-the-job truck driver deaths, states the report.

The report includes data gleaned from the same government department's National Survey of US Long-Haul Truck Driver Health and Injury. That survey, which was conducted at 32 truck stops dotted across the USA in 2010, found that 14 per cent of truck drivers reported not using a seat belt on every trip.

According to CDC's Principal Deputy Director, Dr Ileana Arias, the correlation between not wearing a seat belt and road fatalities is clear.

"We know that using a seat belt is the single most effective intervention to prevent injury or death in a motor vehicle crash," she said.

"However, in 2012 more than one in three truck drivers who died in crashes were not buckled up, a simple step which could have prevented up to 40 per cent of these deaths.

"Employers and government agencies at all levels can help improve truck driver safety and increase seat belt use among truck drivers by having strong company safety programs and enforcing state and federal laws."

The Vital Signs report also found a correlation between seat belt usage and companies with comprehensive workplace safety programs.

Dr Stephanie Pratt, CDC's Coordinator of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Center for Motor Vehicle Safety, said truck companies needed to tackle the issue of truck safety on a number of different fronts.

"Using a seat belt is the most effective way to prevent injury or death in the event of a crash," she said.

"The smartest strategy for overall safety is to prevent truck crashes from happening in the first place. Employers can help prevent crashes and injuries through comprehensive driver safety programs that address other known risk factors such as drowsy and distracted driving."

Click here to read the full report.