• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.208-212
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• 2024

Background: Traffic accidents involving professional drivers have serious societal repercussions. Unique occupational stressors and health risks exacerbate the likelihood of traffic accidents among professional drivers. This study explores the association between presenteeism-impaired work performance due to working while unwell-and traffic accident risk among professional taxi drivers in Japan. Methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted from June 2022 to February 2023, involving taxi drivers from a single company in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. Presenteeism was assessed using the Work Functioning Impairment Scale (WFun). Primary outcome involved the number of self-reported minor traffic accidents. The incidence rate ratio (IRR) of minor traffic accident occurrences was estimated using a Poisson regression analysis, adjusted for confounders including sex, age, and driving experience. Results: Of 838 targeted drivers, 435 were included in the analysis. Higher baseline work functioning impairment was associated with a significant trend of increasing IRR of minor traffic accidents (p for trend = 0.045). A dose-response relationship was seen between the degree of presenteeism and incidence rate of minor traffic accidents. Conclusion: Higher levels of presenteeism were associated with an increased risk of traffic accidents among taxi drivers. The findings underscore the need for socio-economic support and prioritized health management to mitigate traffic accident risk among professional drivers. This study highlights the importance of managing non-critical health issues alongside serious health conditions for safer driving practices among professional drivers in Japan.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.55-62
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• 2014

For professional drivers, there is a possibility to have musculoskeletal disorders on ankle joint due to repetitive pedaling operation. Therefore, this study have focused to examine ankle active range of motion (AROM), dorsiflexor strength, and pressure pain threshold (PPT) of tibialis anterior muscle (TA) in taxi drivers compared to a age-matched control group. Thirty male taxi drivers with at least 10 years of driving experience and thirty male sedentary workers were evaluated for ankle AROM, dorsiflexor strength, and PPT of TA. Multiple independent t-tests were used to identify significant differences between two groups. For the results, taxi drivers had significantly less AROM in dorsiflexion and greater AROM in external tibial rotation compared to the control group. Also, dorsiflexor strength and PPT of TA in taxi drivers was significantly lower than in the control group. This study indicates that the repetitive ankle movements associated with driving have an effect on ankle AROM, dorsiflexor strength, and PPT of TA and may lead to work-related musculoskeletal disorders on ankle. Professional drivers may need to be educated to prevent a potential musculoskeletal disorders associated with repetitive movement.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.82-88
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• 2006

The study investigated how an adaptive cruise control system induced behavioral adaptation in drivers using a full-scale driving simulator. Forty drivers with different driving styles participated in the study to compare headway-time, vehicle lateral position variation, and head and eye movement when driving with and without the adaptive cruise control system. Results showed that system induced positive behavioral adaptation by drawing consistency in driving speed and headway-time regardless of the driving styles. However, the results also showed that the drivers' reliance on the system induced negative adaptation including reduced lane keeping ability and reduced attention during driving. As a strategy to prevent negative adaptation, the study proposed information service to drivers with the adaptive cruise control system status and driving environment, and investigated effectiveness of the service. Twelve drivers participated in the experiment to compare headway-time, vehicle lateral position variation and subjective ratings when driving with and without the information service. Results showed that the information service assisted the drivers to maintain safer and more comfortable headway-time without impairing drivers' steering ability.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.246-257
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• 2010

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the factors related to physical and affective well-being of taxi drivers. The main factors of interests were workplace hazards and work environment. Method: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study. A convenience sampling method was utilized. 181 taxi drivers in Seoul metropolitan area completed survey questionnaires. Result: In bivariate analysis, payment system, workplace hazards, and work environment were associated with physical health of taxi drivers. Multiple regression analysis revealed payment system and workplace hazards were significant predictors of physical health. On the other hand, age and workplace hazards, and work environment were significantly associated with affective health in the bivariate analysis. Moreover, workplace hazards and environment were significant predictors of affective health in the multiple regression analysis. Conclusion: To improve taxi drivers' health status, it is critical to reform payment system to monthly payment, establish prevention policies of workplace hazards, and encourage employers and taxi drivers to make efforts for better work environment.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.15-28
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• 2003

The one of the most important factors is the platoon design on developing AH3(Advanced Highway System), as it is related to traffic efficiency and drivers' safety. This study was evaluated that how much speed is comfortable for drivers and how long distance is appropriate for vehicular gap of platoon by measuring drivers' physiology signal and sensibility. A fixed-based AHS simulator was developed by using a real vehicle cockpit and the restructured part of Korean highway for human factors evaluation. The EEG(electroencephalogram), ECG (electrocardiogram) and GSR(Galvanic Skin Response) were measured for obtaining drivers' physiology signal according to the change of speed and gap. The brain wave(${\alpha},\;{\beta},\;{\delta},\;{\theta}$) by EEG, the response of the autonomic nervous system. the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system, by ECG, and relax-arousal situation by GSR were analyzed. The SD(Semantic Differential) method was also applied to evaluate drivers' sensibility by 5-grade evaluation scale with 96 adjectives. SSQ(Simulator Sickness Questionnaire) was used to measure the simulator sickness of pre and post driving, two times. As the results, drivers were comfortable with 120km/h speed of platoon and lam to 15m vehicular distance. The results of this study may differ from the adaption of the reality because of many parameters. However, the purpose of this study is show to significant results of the drivers' safety and the acceptability of human factors evaluation.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.137-146
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• 2018

PURPOSES : This study aims to analyze how the installation of advanced warning devices affects individual drivers' driving behaviors with operating record data collected from 100 vehicles. METHODS : With collected data, the changes in individual drivers' driving behaviors, such as Forward Collision Warning (FCW) and Lane Departure Warning (LDW), were investigated with respect to the cumulative distance traveled and driving time. For the analysis, operating record data collected from 100 vehicles for seven months were used. RESULTS : The results showed that individual drivers' driving behaviors could be categorized into six different types. In addition, most of the drivers showed unstable warning patterns in the initial stage after installation of an advanced warning device. Approximately 40% of vehicles equipped with advanced warning systems were found to have positive effects, indicating that the frequencies of both FCW and LDW had been continuously decreasing after installation of the system. CONCLUSIONS : The warning device might be helpful for making drivers' driving behaviors safer. Driving behaviors during the initial stage of the system installation, which might be regarded as an adaptation phase, were found to be very unstable compared with normal situations, indicating that adequate education and training should be provided to all the drivers to prevent operator disruption at the initial installation of the system.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.7 no.10
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• pp.1025-1034
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• 2020

This paper aims to develop a conceptual framework for Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) that takes into account the effect of GSCM drivers on implementing GSCM practices in Vietnam FDI companies. This study has considered organizational commitment, social network, and government support as GSCM driver factors and proposed a structural model of the relationships between GSCM drivers and GSCM practices in Vietnam FDI companies. The empirical analysis used data from 192 questionnaires which used a comprehensive, valid, and reliable tool (SPSS 26 and SmartPLS 3.0 software) to evaluate rigorous statistical tests including convergence validity, discriminatory validity, reliability, and Average Variance Extracted (AVE) to analyze and verify the gathered data and develop the hypothesis. The result of path analysis shows that GSCM driver factors constitute a structured system with different degrees of influence on GSCM drivers and GSCM practices. Organizational commitment and government support has a positive relationship with both GSCM drivers and GSCM practices, while social network only has a positive relationship on GSCM drivers. As a result, the testing of the relationship between GSCM drivers and GSCM practices has been verified and supported. The findings of this study can help managers and decision-makers to push the implementation of GSCM practices in FDI companies.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.187-191
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• 2022

Background: Traffic injuries have become a significant public health problem in low- and middle-income countries. Several studies have examined the role of personality and attitude toward traffic safety in predicting driving behaviors in diverse types of drivers. Few studies have investigated risky behavior among public passenger van drivers. This study aims to identify the predictors of self-reported risky driving behavior among public van drivers. Method: A total of 410 public van drivers were interviewed at terminal stations in Bangkok. Hierarchical regression models were applied to determine the effects of demographics, personality traits, and attitude on self-reported risky driving behaviors. Results: The results indicated that drivers with a high education level, more working days, and high scores for normlessness and anger were more likely to report risky driving behaviors (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The personality traits and attitude toward speeding account for aberrant self-reported risky driving behavior in passenger van drivers. This could be another empirical basis for evidence-based road safety interventions in the context of public transport.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.23-31
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• 2022

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to analyze the Safety and Logistical Distribution Management system in Thailand's Highway Work Zone based on data from Logistics drivers. Accidents in highway construction zones have caused enormous casualties in Thailand yearly. Statistical data shows evidence of correlation between numbers of accidents and drivers' recklessness. Research design, data, and methodology: In this study, we conducted an in- depth interview with 414 logistics drivers and highway construction workers in Khon Kaen province, Thailand. The data was collected based on 63 questionnaires aiming at capturing factors contributing to the risk of safety and cause of accidents in logistic infrastructures such as Highway work zone. Results: The result reveals two significant factors affecting safety in highway work zone, which includes construction environment and safety management system. Moreover, the result shows that feeling of afraid and confused while driving within the construction zones significantly affecting driver's risk of having an accident. Conclusions: The findings of this study offer that a strategic planning and evaluation of the logistics drivers' satisfaction and construction workers' participation to mitigate highway accidents at construction zones and that drivers' knowledge and perception toward construction safety management plays a significant role in preventing highway accidents at the construction areas.

• Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.77-90
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• 2003

This paper explores the way and the extent to which drivers' route choice was influenced by uncertain information. In particular, this paper investigates the effect of qualitative information on route choice when drivers face a choice with different degrees of uncertain information. The SP survey was conducted and route choice legit models were estimated. We also applied Prospect Theory to the analysis of drivers' decision making under uncertain information. The main findings are firstly, drivers tend to prefer a route with information than(to) one without information. This indicated that providing charge information encouraged drivers to choose the routes for which information is provided in preference to those for which it is not provided. Secondly, drivers also prefer a route with a certain and precise information over one with uncertain and imprecise information. Thirdly, when the information is given as a range, the size of the range of the information influenced route choice slightly and as the range of the charge increases, the route becomes slightly less unattractive. Fourthly, when the information is given as a range, drivers' route choices are influenced more by the median value of the ranges than by the size of the overall ranges of the information. Application of Prospect Theory to the results explains the way drivers may be interpreting the choice situation and how they make a route choice in response to uncertain information. The results of this paper implicate that drivers' decision making under uncertainty seem to be very complicated and flexible, depending on the way drivers interpret the choice situation. Therefore, it is recommended to apply wider related theories to the analysis of the drivers' behaviour.