Heavy Truck Cab Safety Study

摘要

The recent data on restrained truck drivers indicates that restraint use reduces the probability of fatality by 77%. However, the estimate must be tempered by the evidence of over-reporting of restraint use on police accident reports. Information obtained through a review of 186 National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reports on truck driver fatalities in eight states indicated that there was not sufficient occupant survival space in about 65% of the collisions examined. Forty-two percent were judged to be not survivable because of the severity of the impact. Restraint use alone appears sufficient to alter the outcome of only about 27%. Cab structural modifications sufficient to maintain adequate survival space, particularly in rollover, will be required in order to address an additional 23% that appeared survivable.