Half of all trucks drivers choose not to wear their safety belts, even though they double the chances of survival in a serious road accident, according to Volvo Trucks.
The company highlights the most recent World Health Organisation report, Global Status Report on Road Safety 2013, which names increased belt usage as one of the most vital issues for improving traffic safety.
“In recent years belt usage has increased among truck drivers, but even so, fewer than half use the safety belt, said traffic & product safety director at Volvo Trucks, Carl Johan Almqvist.
“That’s despite the fact that both our own and other European research has revealed that at least 50 per cent of truck drivers who lost their lives in traffic would have survived if they had been belted in.”
Volvo revealed that of all truck drivers involved in fatal accidents, only five per cent were wearing their safety belts.
It listed the reasons given, based on a recent survey by Sweden’s National Society for Road Safety, as the belts being difficult, inconvenient, or time-consuming to put on and take off.
“Bearing in mind that the safety belt can spell the difference between life and death, these are not particularly credible excuses, added Almqvist.
“I would therefore encourage both haulage firms and drivers to do what they can to improve safety. The simplest measure of all is naturally to use the single most important safety feature on board – the safety belt.”
