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Half of Truck Drivers Don’t Use A Safety Belt, Study Says

There is no secret that most drivers still avoid using the safety belt, which is also the most common causes of death in traffic accidents in Europe today. Moreover, a recent study commissioned by Volvo Trucks and conducted by the CEESAR research institute revealed that at least half of all truck drivers are at risk specifically due to this particular reason.

“Many drivers live under the impression that it is much safer to drive a big truck than a small passenger car," Volvo Trucks' Traffic and Product Safety Director, Carl-Johan Almqvist, said in a release.

The same study shows that the number of fatalities and injuries in traffic accidents would decrease by 40 percent if everyone drove with safety belts, while 6 out of 10 people involved in accidents would have suffered less serious injuries if they had used safety belts.

"We human beings quite simply have no speed sensors. We can read the speed on a gauge, but we have no means of registering speed within our own bodies. This contrasts with our feeling for height. You would never jump from a height of four metres and just hope for the best. Yet in terms of trauma to the human body, this resembles a head-on collision at 30 kilometres an hour without a safety belt. We understand height but not speed," added Almqvist.

This is why the Volvo Trucks product development team works continuously in order to build stronger and safer trucks so as to minimise injuries should an accident occur.

"The bitter truth, however, is that without a safety belt, you are never going to sit safely inside a truck no matter how much work we have invested in the vehicle. Making trucks entirely safe for unbelted drivers is an impossible task. So use your safety belt, it could save your life,"
concluded Almqvist.
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