Summary of Projects Funded By The Federal Highway Administration for The National Surface Transportation Safety Center for Excellence From July 2006 to June 2014

This project looked at driver BMI and its relation to fatigued driving. A literature review provided support for the notion that obesity is linked to sleep problems (e.g., OSA) and fatigue-relevant outcomes (e.g., excessive daytime sleepiness); in addition, analyses of naturalistic driving data supported the notion that obesity is a risk factor for driving while fatigued. A focus group of commercial drivers investigated perceived barriers to living a healthy lifestyle while on the road. Finally, several existing H&W programs were described.

The findings of this report indicated that obesity is a major problem in CMV operations. Of the 103 analyzed drivers, a majority (81.6 percent) were classified as either overweight or obese based on their BMI scores. Naturalistic driving data analysis found that being overweight or obese is a risk factor for driving while fatigued; obese drivers were between 1.89 [CI = 1.33, 2.70] and 8.31 [CI = 5.38, 12.84] times at greater risk than normal weight individuals for driving while fatigued, depending on the fatigue measure used. The data analysis also showed that individuals with a higher BMI are at greater risk for experiencing an SCE when compared to those with a lower BMI.

The objective of this study was to use naturalistic driving data to investigate issues in the trucking industry such as driver sleep/rest cycles and crash countermeasures. Continuous driving performance data were collected for 100 CMV drivers during 4 mo of their normal driving routine, collecting approximately 14,600 h of driving data. During this period, over 2,800 SCEs were identified: 13 crashes, 58 NCs, 1,595 crash-relevant conflicts, and 1,213 unintentional lane deviations.

In addition to video and performance data, each participant wore an actigraph watch (a sleep monitor) and filled out a daily activity log. The data provided information about the drivers' daily sleep patterns and amount of sleep, as well as a reference for measuring the amount of time since the last sleep period in reference to a critical incident. One or more crash countermeasures were also identified for each critical incident. The results of this study provided information about the driver's daily work/sleep schedule and development of countermeasures for SCEs.

Video examples from both the DDWS FOT and 100-car studies were identified for each relative indicator of drowsiness. A behavior and mannerism checklist was also developed for the protocol as a tool for individuals to use while performing ORD ratings. In addition to the relative indicators of drowsiness, individual driver data were reviewed to select six drivers who exhibited a range of drowsiness during the DDWS FOT and 100-car studies. Video examples were selected from those drivers and identified as driving while alert, slightly drowsy, moderately drowsy, very drowsy, and extremely drowsy. Each clip was reviewed, evaluated, and edited in the same manner as the relative indicators of drowsiness videos, and the research team developed a written description of how each one was classified. The final training protocol included the following:

• Defining ORD and its purpose.
• Describing the five levels of drowsiness.
• Describing driver appearance.
• Giving instructions for determining and recording ORD ratings.

Once developed, a peer-review meeting solicited feedback from senior research faculty at VTTI regarding the protocol, video examples, and study design for evaluating the training protocol. All feedback was incorporated into the finalized protocol document. Evaluation of the training protocol to assess intrarater reliability and interrater reliability was also conducted.

Two leading U.S. transportation companies partnered with two commercial sleep apnea treatment providers and a sleep management provider to implement OSA programs that screen, diagnose, treat, and manage their OSA-positive CMV drivers. This NSTSCE project included focus groups and phone interviews with drivers and staff involved in each OSA program to assess drivers' and staff perceptions and opinions of their respective programs. The majority of drivers expressed satisfaction with participating in their company's OSA program. Drivers reported the following benefits: improved sleep quality, increased energy and feeling well rested, improved health, and decreased concerns about falling asleep while driving.

Overall, OSA program personnel believed their programs were successful and were eager to continue refining and improving the material. Staff also reported challenges they faced while implementing and maintaining the OSA programs, such as gaining driver acceptance of the program and significant time delays between screening and testing drivers for OSA due to the high volume of drivers at risk for OSA.

This case study had a twofold purpose: first, researchers investigated current light-vehicle driver education programs that contained components on sharing the road with heavy vehicles and developed a supplemental practices document on key sharing-the-road information that teachers could cover with students. Second, a case study was performed with a light-vehicle driver education program in a single state that only included a basic textbook-based component on sharing the road with heavy vehicles.

Researchers evaluated two components introduced in different driver education classrooms and compared them with the basic textbook-based component. The first component was updated digital video disc material by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance titled Teens and Trucks. The second component was a hands-on truck experience program developed by researchers. Each classroom of students that received one of the components was invited to take part in a survey 2 mo later and knowledge retention of key learning points (e.g., heavy-vehicle no-zones (blind spots)) was measured. Focus groups were also conducted in which participants discussed how to share the road with heavy vehicles.

Report: Tips for Sharing the Road with Commercial Motor Vehicles: A Web-based Approach⁽⁵¹⁾

Web site: Tips for Sharing the Road with Commercial Motor Vehicles⁽⁵²⁾

This research included an analysis of naturalistic data collected by a contractor across a 3-mo period. Supervisors in utilities and service organizations were the targeted vehicle operators in these analyses because those employees frequently drove to sites or locations in their territories on a daily basis. These data provided descriptive information about the adverse consequences of fatigue and tertiary tasks while driving.

In addition, the contractor completed a secondary review of all cell phone SCEs and spurious baselines within the last 90 days to determine the frequency of the following cell phone variables: dial cell phone, reach for cell phone, reach for Bluetooth®/headset/earpiece, talk/listen on hands-free cell phone, talk/listen on handheld cell phone, and text/email/surf Web on cell phone. The results of these analyses provided information about the scope of cell phone use (as well as other distractions) and fatigue during safety-related events and spurious baselines. The data reduction and reliability protocols were finalized and approved by Lytx™. With the data sharing agreement in place, the research team hopes to begin data reduction and reliability analysis soon.