Professional experience and traffic accidents/near-miss accidents among truck drivers

• Studies that evaluate the relationship between the length of professional experience as a truck driver and reports of involvement in accidents and/or near-miss accidents are scarce in the literature.
• The reports of involvement in accidents and near-miss accidents during the last 12 months in Brazilian truck drivers were 7.2% and 41.7%, respectively.
• Longer professional experience was inversely associated with the report of involvement in accidents and near-miss accidents.
• Experience driving a truck (especially the articulated types) as a requirement of obtaining a license may contribute to a reduced frequency of accidents involving these vehicles.

AimTo investigate the relationship between the time working as a truck driver and the report of involvement in traffic accidents or near-miss accidents.MethodsA cross-sectional study was performed with truck drivers transporting products from the Brazilian grain harvest to the Port of Paranaguá, Paraná, Brazil. The drivers were interviewed regarding sociodemographic characteristics, working conditions, behavior in traffic and involvement in accidents or near-miss accidents in the previous 12 months. Subsequently, the participants answered a self-applied questionnaire on substance use. The time of professional experience as drivers was categorized in tertiles. Statistical analyses were performed through the construction of models adjusted by multinomial regression to assess the relationship between the length of experience as a truck driver and the involvement in accidents or near-miss accidents.ResultsThis study included 665 male drivers with an average age of 42.2 (±11.1) years. Among them, 7.2% and 41.7% of the drivers reported involvement in accidents and near-miss accidents, respectively. In fully adjusted analysis, the 3rd tertile of professional experience (>22 years) was shown to be inversely associated with involvement in accidents (odds ratio [OR] 0.29; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.16-0.52) and near-miss accidents (OR 0.17; 95% CI 0.05-0.53). The 2nd tertile of professional experience (11–22 years) was inversely associated with involvement in accidents (OR 0.63; 95% CI 0.40-0.98).ConclusionsAn evident relationship was observed between longer professional experience and a reduction in reporting involvement in accidents and near-miss accidents, regardless of age, substance use, working conditions and behavior in traffic.