5 Interesting Facts About Transportation Safety for Students Interested in Online Transportation Operations Programs
Transportation safety supervisors don’t just fix problems and investigate incidents – they’re also responsible for putting measures in place to decrease the chances of these accidents happening in the first place.
If you’re interested in pursuing a career in transportation safety, then it’s important to keep your finger on the pulse when it comes to safety trends, practices, and procedures to make sure you and your fleet remain safe on the job.
From distracted driving to unloading practices, read on to gain valuable insight into the state of transportation safety today.
1. Distracted Driving is a Major Cause of Roadway Accidents
Simple things like adjusting GPS maps and using a cell phone can have disastrous consequences when done while driving. Transport Canada’s National Collision Database indicates that, in 2016, distracted driving caused approximately 27% of serious injury collisions and 21% of fatal collisions.
As you may learn in your transportation operations program, there are three types of distracted driving. Visual distracted driving involves taking your eyes off the road, whether that be to adjust something on your vehicle’s dashboard or turning to talk to someone in the backseat. If you take your hands off the wheel – to text, eat, or anything else – that is manual distracted driving. Cognitive distracted driving, on the other hand, is when your mind stops focusing on the road ahead.
2. Technology Plays its Part in Preventing Trucking Collisions
While distracted driving contributes greatly to the number of trucking accidents each year, there are also some collisions that could be prevented if vehicles were equipped with certain systems.
According to Fueloyal, 4,569 truck accidents could be avoided if commercial tractor-trailers had electronic stability control systems. This technology helps detect and reduce the loss of traction, thereby preventing crashes.
3. Defensive Driving Helps Prevent Crashes
To prevent trucking collisions, it’s important that those in automotive training promote defensive driving techniques in order to optimally prepare drivers for any type of on-road encounter.
This method of driving aims to anticipate dangerous situations by practices like watching the reactions of other drivers, paying close attention to weather and road conditions, and ensuring that your environment is free of distractions.
4. The Trucking Industry is Becoming Safer in Canada
Although transportation safety technicians should always be alert to danger, it’s important to note that there is evidence to suggest that Canada’s trucking industry is becoming safer over time.
According to the Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba, injury rates in the industry decreased by 40% from 2010 to 2018. Additionally, the Ontario Trucking Association recently discovered that those driving trucks are least likely to be involved in accidents, as trucks make up less than 3% of total vehicle collisions in the province.
5. Make Sure to Employ Proper Loading Practices After Automotive Training
When loading and unloading freight, it’s important to make sure that the freight is properly secured, the trailer parking brackets are on, and the tractor is turned off. For extra security, you can place chock blocks underneath the vehicle’s wheels. When the driveris ready to pull out of the loading dock, make sure that there isn’t anyone in the trailer and that no equipment obstructs the vehicle’s path.
Interested in a career in transportation safety?
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