14 percent of truck drivers don’t always buckle up: study

Atlanta – About 14 percent of long-haul truck drivers in 2010 reported sometimes or never wearing a safety belt, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Researchers reviewed data from the National Survey of U.S. Long-Haul Truck Driver Health and Injury involving 1,265 long-haul truck drivers. About 86 percent of drivers said they often used a safety belt, nearly 8 percent said they sometimes did, and 6 percent said they never used one.

Other findings included:

• More than one-third of drivers were involved in at least one serious crash.
• Truckers who did not wear safety belts were more likely to participate in other unsafe driving activities, such as speeding and committing moving violations, and work for an employer without a written safety program.

Motor vehicle crashes were the top cause of U.S. worker deaths in 2012, at 25 percent. Truck drivers made up 46 percent of those deaths. More than one-third of truck drivers who died in crashes in 2012 were not wearing a safety belt, according to a report.

The report was published in the March 3 issue of CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.