Investigating the Relation between Drivers Working and Resting Hours with the Occurrence of Road Accidents (Case Study: Heavy Vehicle Drivers)

Background and Objective: Excessive working hours, insufficient rest, and irregular driver schedules are factors that could cause drowsiness in professional drivers; consequently, reducing the driver's ability and increasing the chance of road accidents. Therefore, the present study aimed to Investigate the relation between drivers working and resting hours with the occurrence of road accidents among heavy vehicle drivers. Materials and Methods: This analytical and cross-sectional research was performed in 2018 and 200 heavy vehicle drivers in Tehran province, Iran, were evaluated. A standard driver safety questionnaire was used to collect data. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software (version 21). Results: The mean age of drivers, driving hours per day, continuous driving hours, and rest hours per day were calculated as 47.5 ± 9.05 years, 10.66 ± 2.52, 5.82 ± 1.87, and 8.7 ± 1.13, respectively. The average number of road quasi-accidents and accidents for drivers in the last five years was 4.26 ± 2.29 and 1.1 ± 1.2, respectively. The number of accidents was significantly associated with age, drowsiness, safety and health education, driving hours, the number of continuous driving hours, and the number of rest hours. No significant association was found between the number of accidents and smoking. Conclusion: Behaviors such as long driving hours, long continuous driving hours, short rest hours, and drowsiness are among the causes of heavy vehicle drivers’ accidents in the country. Planning with the approach of informing, and raising awareness and skills of drivers to change their harmful habits and high-risk driving behaviors could significantly reduce road accidents.