U33: Impact of Distraction and Health on Commercial Driving Performance

This study examined the interaction of the cognitive and technological aspects of distracted driving as well as physical health among commercial drivers. Participants (n=55; 5 of which were excluded from analyses) were recruited from Alabama-based trucking companies. After Informed Consent was obtained from participants, baseline health, driving, anthropometric, and demographic data were collected. Participants then completed cognitive testing, and drove an 88-mile simulated trip while engaging in one of four secondary tasks (no secondary task, cell phone conversation, texting interaction, and email interaction) in a commercial truck driving simulator. Participants had a mean age of 40.5 years, were mostly male (98.0%), and had, on average, 8.6 years of experience as a commercial truck driver. During the simulation, compared to the no secondary task condition, the emailing and texting conditions were associated with increased collisions, lane deviations, and eye glances off of the road; the cell phone condition was associated with a decreased rate of eye glances off of the road and an increased rate of riding the clutch. Driver characteristics were not associated with driving violations, although increased sleep time was associated with decreased collisions and fewer instances of speeding 15+ miles over the posted speed limit, and increased mean reaction time was associated with a slight increase in the collision rate. Findings from this study impact multiple stakeholders and will contribute to the development of future, large intervention studies targeting driver distraction and health factors in commercial drivers.