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There are approximately 4,000 fatalities in crashes involving trucks and buses in the United States each year. Though estimates are wide-ranging, possibly 10 to 20 percent of these crashes might have involved fatigued drivers. The stresses associated with their particular jobs (irregular schedules, etc.) and the lifestyle that many truck and bus drivers lead, puts them at substantial risk for insufficient sleep and for developing short- and long-term health problems. Commercial Motor Vehicle Driver Fatigue, Long-Term Health and Highway Safety assesses the state of knowledge about the relationship of such factors as hours of driving, hours on duty, and periods of rest to the fatigue experienced by truck and bus drivers while driving and the implications for the safe operation of their vehicles. This report evaluates the relationship of these factors to drivers' health over the longer term, and identifies improvements in data and research methods that can lead to better understanding in both areas.
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO analyzed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Fatal Accident Reporting System to compare: (1) passenger-car fatality rates to those for standard pickup trucks, small pickups, standard vans, and multipurpose vehicles; and (2) the fatality experience for those vehicle types after statistically controlling for non-vehicle-related factors and only those accidents involving rollovers or side-impact collisions. GAO found that: (1) the fatality rate was lower for small and standard vans and standard pickups, and higher for small pickups and multipurpose vehicles; (2) multipurpose-vehicle, standard-van, and pickup fatalities were approximately half as likely as passenger-car fatalities, and small van fatalities were slightly less than two-thirds as likely, to have involved a side impact; (3) the increased likelihood of fatal rollover accidents might be attributable to the vehicles themselves; (4) non-passenger-car fatalities were more likely than passenger-car fatalities to involve rollovers, and less likely to involve side impacts; and (5) it did not have the necessary level of detailed exposure data to calculate fatality rates for different types of vehicles adjusted for non-vehicle factors. In addition, GAO found that while it could not demonstrate conclusively that changes in specifications for certain vehicles would result in fewer highway fatalities, its analysis offered persuasive evidence that: (1) rollover fatalities were more likely, and side-impact fatalities less likely, to occur in non-passenger-car vehicles; and (2) those tendencies were vehicle-specific and could not be attributed simply to driver, roadway, or accident characteristics.
An average of 242 persons were killed each year from 1975 through 1979 in accidents while riding in the cargo areas of pickup trucks, according to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) Fatal Accident Reporting System (FARS). In 1979, the Safety Board investigated an accident involving a compact pickup truck in which the driver and three persons were riding in the cab and eight persons were in the open-cargo area of the truck. The driver failed to negotiate a curve and the truck ran off the road and overturned. Seven persons in the cargo area were killed. As a result of its investigation of this accident, the Safety Board recommended that the National Committee on Uniform Traffic Laws and Ordinances (NCUTLO) establish model guidelines for prohibiting passengers from riding in open cargo areas of most vehicles. The NCUTLO had considered model guidelines on a broader scale in 1975, but because of several complications, the proposal was rejected. This study was made to demonstrate further the need for model guidelines prohibiting passengers from riding in the cargo area of a vehicle, and to make available information about the dangers to passengers riding in the open cargo area of a vehicle. Recommendations are made to the NCUTLO, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Association, the National Safety Council, Automobile Importers of America and to the Governors of the 50 States.