Because of the significant number of heavy truck-related fatalities and the significant role of fatigue in such accidents, the Board initiated this study of single-vehicle heavy truck accidents to examine the role of specific factors, such as drivers' patterns of duty and sleep, in fatigue-related heavy truck accidents and to determine potential remedial actions. The purpose of the Board's study was to examine the factors that affect driver fatigue and not the statistical incidence to fatigue. The study analyses data from 107 single-vehicle heavy truck accidents in which the driver survived. Volume 1 of the study contains the Board's analysis of the data and its conclusions and recommendations. Volume 2 (ST 950569) of the study contains the summaries of the 107 accidents. The safety issues discussed in the report are (a) the factors that affect fatigue-related accidents; (b) the adequacy of the Federal Highway Administration's hours-of-service regulations; and (c) the adequacy of truckdrivers' understanding of the factors affecting fatigue. Safety recommendations concerning these issues were made to the Federal Highway Administration, the Professional Truck Driver Institute of America, the American Trucking Association, Inc., the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, the National Private Truck Council, the Independent Truck Owner Operators, the Owner-Operator Independent Driver's Association, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, and the National Industrial Transportation League.
Samenvatting