The report contains a literature survey evaluating research on the relationship between working and driving hours and rest periods of professional road transport drivers, and fatigue, health and traffic safety. Indications for limitations on driving and working hours in order to protect drivers against health and traffic safety hazards are specifically looked for and evaluated. Only a few investigators have taken professional bus drivers as the subject of their study, the majority of the research concentrates on truck drivers. Hence, the results in this literature survey are limited to these drivers but in a general sense the conclusions are also applicable to bus drivers who work under the same conditions as truck drivers. Truck drivers in north america and europe work very long days, between 12 and 14 hours on average, and approximately 60% of this time is spent driving the truck. In addition, their daily rest between consecutive working periods is relatively short. There is no clear evidence for a direct relationship between driving hours and accident occurrence. However, in one case a relationship between long working hours and accidents is reported. Accident risk in general appears to be 2.5 times higher for a driver who works over 13 hours per day than for a driver who works 10 hours or less. There is evidence that inadequate daily rest leads to drivers falling asleep at the wheel. However, no limits for the length of rest periods can be set without further research. Future research should concentrate on: (a) the influence of the number of working hours per week and the length of rest periods in between working periods on accident occurrence and health problems of professional road transport drivers; (b) the circumstances surrounding the onset of fatigue.
Samenvatting