Road freight transportation represents a long-standing transportation safety and public health problem in the United States (US). In 2014, there were an estimated 438,000 large truck-involved crashes in the US, resulting in 3,903 people killed and approximately 111,000 injured. These figures are likely to increase given a steadily increasing demand for both freight services and the requisite truck drivers. One group of truck drivers found to be over-represented in crash statistics is the group comprised of drivers age 60 and older. Research suggests that older adults, in general, are likely to experience some level of age-related functional decline in sensory, physical and cognitive functioning such as reduced visual acuity and slowed reaction time. Of relevance to older truck drivers is how declines in these skills relate to the safe operation of a vehicle on the road and whether these skill degradations put them at increased risk of crash-related injury and/or death. The need for urgent attention was highlighted by a recent report by the American Transportation Research Institute that pointed to the aging employee base of the trucking industry, and projected significant growth in the percentage of trucking employees in the age ranges of 55-64 and 65 and older. With the exception of a study conducted by Duke et al. (2010), there is little information related age-related risk factors that may contribute to crashes in older truck drivers. Further, there is little information about the unique safety issues faced by older truck drivers and existing preventive strategies to address these issues, or how to inform the development of new evidence-based preventive strategies. However, some lessons can be learned from existing road safety programs designed for older drivers in the general population. One good example is the Self-Awareness and FEedback for Responsible Driving (SAFER) Driving self-screening instrument, developed by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI). SAFER Driving is a validated, web-based, self-screening instrument focused on ‘health concerns’ that affect driving — that is, the symptoms that people experience due to medical conditions, medications used to treat them, and the general aging process. The development of the self-screening instrument was based on the assumption that while there are a myriad of medical conditions, medications, and age-related declines, they produce a relatively small number of health concerns that can vary in severity, and in turn affect driving. SAFER Driving provides older drivers with individualized information to help them make better decisions about driving. By linking the severity of health concerns to their effects on critical driving skills, the instrument provides feedback to increase knowledge and self-awareness, as well as recommendations for behavioural changes, further evaluation, and vehicle modifications. Users of SAFER Driving reported that they thought the tool would be useful for enhancing discussions between older adults and their families. SAFER Driving offers one preventive approach for truck safety because of its potential to identify declines in abilities that can affect driving of trucks and enhance discussions between truck drivers and safety managers. However, in its current form, this tool does not align with the complexity inherent in the workplace system. More importantly, not enough is known about the unique challenges facing older truck drivers, current strategies, particularly from the perspective of drivers and safety managers, for addressing these challenges, and areas where more focus is needed. In addition, research has established that contributing factors at all levels of the road freight transportation system (i.e., drivers, management, other organizations, regulatory, and government bodies) play a role in influencing crash involvement. Thus, preventive strategies designed for the workplace must consider interaction within and across system levels. Based on this logic, a preventive strategy that goes beyond a singular driver-level focus to one that considers the role of policy, procedure, regulation and beyond is more likely to be effective in managing the safety of truck drivers. The overarching goal of this project was to contribute to a reduction in crashes among older truck drivers. The project represents the starting point for developing a program that can be used by older truck drivers and trucking company management to keep older truck drivers on the road for as long as they can safely drive. The specific aims of this project were to: 1. Conduct an analysis of truck crash data to identify risk factors that contribute to crashes among older truck drivers. 2. Conduct a brief review of the literature to identify existing preventive strategies in the trucking industry. 3. Conduct a series of group and individual structured interviews with older truck drivers and trucking company management. 4. Develop the conceptual framework for a needs assessment tool designed to improve the safety management of older drivers in the trucking industry. (Author/publisher)
Abstract