Effect of Fatigue on Traffic Violations of Bus Drivers

Abstract

Road accident has become a daily and deadly phenomenon in Bangladesh which has one of the worst crash rates in the world, at more than 60 per 10,000 registered motor vehicles. The official death toll for road traffic accidents is about 4,000 a year, but Nirapad Sarak Chai gave a higher figure of 5162 accident related deaths in 2013, which also include deaths en route to hospital and deaths after release from hospitals. Road Accident and casualties Statistics of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) shows that around 19,450 number of accident has occurred during the year 2009-2016.In those accident 18,510 people lost their life and about 14,442 people became injured (Bangladesh Road Transport Authority, BRTA). In Bangladesh, according to the official statistics (police statistics), at least 2437 accidents were reported in 2010 of which 1911 were directly fatigue related fatal accidents. The fatigue related fatality is increasing tremendously and it has become an alarming event causing huge loss of lives and assets. A study revealed that about 83% drivers in Bangladesh were directly or indirectly involved in fatigue related disability and faced psycho-social disorders (Talukder et al., 2013). However, bus drivers does not take the matter seriously. Even the bus company owners overlook the drivers’ fatigue fact. II This study aims for identifying and analyzing factors that cause fatigue-induced road violations to isolate the most extreme group of drivers. Previously fatigue related study has not been explored much in Bangladesh. This study will help to create public awareness and attain mitigation measures to improve the current situation by addressing the ‘fatigue’ issue. In our study we conducted a questionnaire survey on selected locations. Based on the survey data the model was developed to predict the number of violations by fatigue induced drivers. The questionnaire was prepared on other studies, literature review and local context. The study will help to identify the factors which affects the violations of drivers due to fatigue. Alcohol consumption, breaks between trips, fitness of vehicle, drivers’ monthly income, work pattern, trip distance etc. are significant factors which have influence on drivers’ fatigue induced violations This study will help policy makers to set up an environment to minimize traffic casualties and ensure road safety by reducing fatigue