Trucking accidents lead to serious costs for the economy as well as anyone injured in the accident. This is why trucking safety and regulation have become hot topics for legislators and advocates in recent years.
There are plenty of different elements that influence whether or not a truck driver will be safe while on the road such as his or her experience level and their general skill behind the wheel. However, a new study identified a risk factor that hasn’t previously been explored – the truck drivers’ health conditions.
The study, completed by the University of Utah School of Medicine, looked at more than 50,000 commercial truck drivers and their medical records. They identified that drivers are much more likely to be involved in a major accident if they have three or more medical issues. Those individuals stand to double or quadruple their chance of being in a crash when compared with healthier drivers.
The research study identified that having one health condition increased a driver’s chances of being involved in an accident slightly but multiple health conditions in conjunction made their chances of being in or causing an accident much higher. Truck accidents come at a significant cost in terms of damage and personal injury in California.