Vital Signs: Seat Belt Use Among Long-Haul Truck Drivers – United States, 2010

Details

• Journal Article:
  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• Personal Author:
  Birdsey, Jan ; Chen, Guang X. ; Collins, James W. ; Hitchcock, Edward M. ; Lincoln, Jennifer E. ; Pratt, Stephanie G. ; Robinson, Cynthia F. ; Rodríguez-Acosta, Rosa L. ; Sieber, William K.
• Description:
  Background: Motor vehicle crashes were the leading cause of occupational fatalities in the United States in 2012, accounting for 25% of deaths. Truck drivers accounted for 46% of these deaths. This study estimates the prevalence of seat belt use and identifies factors associated with nonuse of seat belts among long-haul truck drivers (LHTDs), a group of workers at high risk for fatalities resulting from truck crashes. Methods: CDC analyzed data from its 2010 national survey of LHTD health and injury. A total of 1,265 drivers completed the survey interview. Logistic regression was used to examine the association between seat belt nonuse and risk factors. Results: An estimated 86.1% of LHTDs reported often using a seat belt, 7.8% used it sometimes, and 6.0% never. Reporting never using a belt was associated with often driving >/= 10 mph (16 kph) over the speed limit (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 2.9), working for a company with no written safety program (AOR = 2.8), receiving two or more tickets for moving violations in the preceding 12 months (AOR = 2.2), living in a state without a primary belt law (AOR = 2.1); and being female (AOR = 2.3). Conclusions: Approximately 14% of LHTDs are at increased risk for injury and death because they do not use a seat belt on every trip. Safety programs and other management interventions, engineering changes, and design changes might increase seat belt use among LHTDs. Implications for Public Health: Primary state belt laws can help increase belt use among LHTDs. Manufacturers can use recently collected anthropometric data to design better-fitting and more comfortable seat belt systems. View the CDC Vital Signs Fact Sheet on trucker safety. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Automobiles Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Accidents Behavior Behavior-patterns Drivers Equipment-design Health-surveys Law-enforcement Mortality-rates Motor-vehicles Occupational-hazards Public-health Risk-analysis Risk-factors Safety-belts Safety-practices Statistical-analysis Surveillance Transportation Transportation-industry Transportation-workers Traumatic-injuries Truck-drivers Work-practices

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• Series:
  Weekly Report: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• ISSN:
  0149-2195 (print) ; 1545-861X (digital)
• Publisher:
  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (U.S.)
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  United States
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSR - Division of Safety Research ; DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies ; DART - Division of Applied Research and Technology
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  6 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Alvarez, Albert ; Belzer, Michael ; Brewster, Rebecca ; Byrd, LaMont ; Nakata, Aki ; Sweeney, Marie H. ; Walker, Martin ; Williamson, Ann
• Volume:
  64
• Issue:
  8
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20045844
• Citation:
  MMWR 2015 Mar; 64(8):217-221
• Email:
  gdc0@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2015
• NORA Priority Area:
  Transportation, Warehousing and Utilities
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Collection(s):
  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:71cdeee904760649f681f8020203f9dae208692e3e432e05d81558a02644b32140800acfb5992c37dd16328029a3fbe8caaef482a629c9a1cd0a43c08315a5d2
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/183328/cdc_183328_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 338.44 KB ]