WASHINGTON — Federal regulators plan to survey truck drivers on their seat belt habits after recent fatality data revealed a high number of unrestrained drivers involved in fatal accidents.
In a notice published Wednesday, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said it intends to use “quantitative data collection techniques” in an anonymous, self-administered online survey to understand truckers’ behaviors regarding seat belt use and road safety.
“Existing data on the usage of safety belts and perceptions related to road safety do not capture the diversity of different types of commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers in a post-coronavirus disease 2019 national emergency landscape,” the agency stated.
“Understanding safety belt usage and perceptions of road safety among CMV drivers will assist FMCSA in gauging emerging trends among this cohort and will inform future messaging and communication efforts targeting CMV drivers.”
Those trends have raised concern among federal transportation officials the past several years.
Speaking at a meeting organized by the Intermodal Association of North America in 2021, Jack Van Steenburg, who was then FMCSA’s chief safety officer, cited statistics showing that of nearly 900 occupants of large trucks killed in crashes in 2019, almost half were not wearing seat belts.
“I just cannot believe people are not wearing seat belts behind [the wheel] of trucks,” Van Steenburg said at the time.
U.S. Department of Transportation Deputy Secretary Polly Trottenberg has also raised alarms.
“One thing we’re seeing in trucking … is that seat belt usage is going down,” Trottenberg noted at a DOT safety forum last year. “And when we look at the fatality numbers, they are extraordinarily disproportionately people who are unbelted.”
In 2021, 64% of truck drivers killed in crashes of large trucks were not wearing a seat belt, according to data compiled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. That compares with 59% in 2019 and 44% in 2020.
FMCSA estimates 1,060 people will participate in a voluntary survey of truck drivers living in the U.S. with internet access. The survey will be conducted over three to four weeks and should take about 10 minutes.
“The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other Federal agencies,” according to FMCSA. “The results are not intended to be disseminated to the public, and the information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions. Personally identifiable information is not being collected.”
The agency is inviting public comments on the plan before getting approval from the Office of Management and Budget, including whether the proposed data collection is necessary and ways to enhance the quality and usefulness of the information.
Pat
I have always wore a seat belt in any vehicle. The choice is individual but the consequences are not. If an event happens many other folks can be effected by that one petson’s choice. Nothing in life is guaranteed, but wearing a seat belt drastically improves the chances of a better ending in csse an event occurs.
eltee
Many view forced seatbelts as an infringement on their personal liberty, which it would be if only the driver’s safety were involved.
Without a seatbelt in the event of any off-road excursion, the steering wheel stops being a device to control the direction of the truck and becomes simply something to hold on (for dear life) to. If you plan to wrassle that outfit back onto level ground, it’s hard to do with your hands on the wheel and your feet in the bunk.
First Responder
James Bauman, while I accept your choice for a lot of things you have to remember that the risk you take does impact others. I lso agree with you that life is about quality. I would also prefer not to wear seatbelts however, I have personally responded to over 200 fatal traffic collisions over the past 14 years and those people that accepted the risk for their choices do have an impact on those of us called to clean up the mess. Not that you caused the collision but when you find a vehicle that’s mangled and nobody in it you know that you’re going to find something most people never want to see. The last one I was on with no seat belts had the hips down still inside the vehicle and the torso was in a tree with the intestines strewn across the roadway. If the vision you have of that offends you as much as my memory of it haunts me then please put on your seat belt and watch the speed laws.
Richard Richard
The Government wants to be technical about a lot of things in trucking, like accounting for every minute. I thought there was a law saying you can’t bound/bind a worker while doing their job.
CARLOS
✅ Most foreign drivers don’t use seatbelts from what I’ve witnessed the last 25 years in trucking. The MASSIVE influx of 3rd world foreign drivers is having a statical impact on safety on the US highways ⚠️
Alberto
We truckers r used to seatbelt. We need fmcsa looking too companies how much money they steal from owner operator and making excuse that the market is bad but they r making fortunes.
Victor
I got lucky. My truck rolled and jack knifed 8 years ago. I wasn’t wearing my seatbelt and did an imitation of Superman through the windshield. I walked (Limped) away with 3 cracked ribs and a severe case of road rash. (Fat bounces apparently…..) My truck doesn’t move without my seat belt on now.
James Bauman dba Kirplopus MC 895097
It’s not that big of discrepancy; those killed wearing seatbelt vs not. I don’t wear seatbelt; except when rolling thru weigh station; due to ticket / points (lame!) For us Libertarian-minded folks; it should be our choice; if we accept these stats. Seat belt advocates , IMO , forget how MANY hours / day we have that constraint / claustrophobic feeling with the seatbelt pulling on us 11 hours / shift. F that. Sure, for a 10 min car ride; no big deal. It should be our choice; as long as we accept risk/ consequences. If I’m ever hurt beyond quality of life that I accept? Pull the plug. OD. Etc. Life is quality not quantity.