Occupational Health & Safety

Biography

Biography: Richard J Hanowski

Abstract

Introduction: The Commercial Driver Individual Differences Study (CDIDS) affords a unique opportunity to examine a widernarray of Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) driver and situational factors to determine the prevalence of these factors and theirrnrelationship to being involved in a crash.rnrnPurpose: To identify and prioritize CMV driver individual differences with respect to risk factors. Primarily, these risk factorsrnwill consist of personal factors, such as demographic characteristics, medical conditions, sleep history, personal attitudes, jobrnsatisfaction, and behavioral history. The CDIDS will identify risk factors by linking the characteristics of individual drivers withrntheir driving records during the duration of the study, especially the occurrence or absence of preventable, on-road crashes.rnrnMethods: Medical and driving records will be collected for 21,000 CMV drivers. Surveys, including questions about personalrnattitudes and lifestyle behaviors, driving history, recent life experiences, and driving behavior will also be collected on a subset ofrnthese drivers. Drivers with documented crashes (identified through carrier and federal safety data) will be considered “cases” forrnanalysis to evaluate crash risk factors. Extreme groups based on crash risk outputs (e.g., low-risk drivers with no case events versusrnhigh-risk drivers with case events) will be investigated to maximize the contrast between groups and thus associations with driverrnand situational factors. The comparison of cases to controls (3,000 of each) will permit the derivation of odds ratios and otherrnstatistics to quantify the increased probability of being involved in a crash associated with various driver and situational factors.rnFollowing case events, those drivers will be asked to complete a follow-up survey to aid in determining if any recent life events/rnstressors may have been a contributing factor to the case event. For each case driver, four control drivers will be asked to alsorncomplete the follow-up survey. Driver participants may be monitored for up to three years to track their driving records.rnrnAnticipated Results: We anticipate the findings of this study will provide insight into the following research questions:rnrn• (i) Do individual factors, or coupling of factors, such as demographic characteristics or medical conditions result in increasedrncrash risk?; andrnrn• (ii) What are the contributing factors leading to a preventable CMV crash? The CDIDS provides a unique opportunity tornexamine a wide array of driver and situational factors among a large sample of CMV drivers. Findings from the CDIDS willrnenable researchers to determine the prevalence of these factors as well as their relationship to being involved in a crash. rnrnLong term monitoring of crash events and follow-up with drivers will provide valuable insight into the health and safety profilesrnof CMV drivers and contributing factors that influence high vs. low-risk drivers. Opportunities exist to continue and expandrnthe CDIDS into a longitudinal study with more drivers, additional survey measures, and extended monitoring and follow-up.