Transport Canada’s Distracted Driving Action Plan includes the development and distribution of training material for commercial vehicle (CMV) drivers and guidelines for motor carrier fleet managers. The report Addressing Human Factors in the Motor Carrier Industry in Canada[1] provides the rationale for this approach, which is supported by a review of the scientific literature. This project will therefore be linked back to the report at various stages.
The traditional driving error taxonomy used in most crash causation studies refers to recognition, decision, performance and non-performance errors. The results of these studies, including those assessing collisions in the motor carrier industry, indicate that recognition and decision errors tend to be the leading causes for crashes. Recognition errors relate to the intake of information by the operator, which mainly includes perception and attention processes. Attention problems, also referred to as inattention, can be caused either by fatigue-related hypovigilance or by driver distraction, under a dual-task paradigm. This project is aimed at the latter and focusses on driver-oriented interventions to mitigate driver distraction in the motor carrier industry in Canada.
The objectives of this project are to:
Develop commercial vehicle driver training material aimed at addressing driver distraction;
Develop fleet management guidelines to help motor carriers mitigate distracted driving, and;
Develop a strategy to promote and disseminate this material to achieve maximum industry penetration.
