Truck drivers spend an average of 9% of their time on the phone while driving on the highway. This is the result of a study commissioned by Asfa, the association of French automotive companies, and by Cérema, a center for risk, environment, mobility and layout studies and expertise.
The experts of this public structure, dependent on the Ministry of Ecological Transition, installed cameras in the cabins of heavy trucks for a week and followed the behavior of three drivers. A panel that a priori seems too limited to draw lessons from the data collected, especially since these road professionals also volunteered to participate in the study. How easy it is to imagine that they should check… “But the method is scientific, Asfa chief delegate Christophe Boutin notes. Serema then watched these dozens of hours of filmed driving in their entirety..
And follow the natural, it comes running back… This long look at the images showed that these road professionals under observation quickly forgot about the presence of the camera. This study putshighlight the habit that appears to be installed. Drivers seem to have integrated phone use into their driving. Compared to one-time viewing from outside the car, viewing is continuous and all positions of the phone are visible“, – notes Cérema, who, however, did not count the phone conversations. They actually happen through the “hands-free kit” function integrated in the car. Day and night, experts focused on using the phone in hand, on a stand or in a truck for various activities, whether it’s texting and reading or watching videos…”During use, the phone is held in the hand on average 47% of the time or attached to a special stand (52%). It is less often installed in the passenger compartment (1%)– describes Cérema.
Average usage time 32 seconds
This study provides disturbing results. On average, and for all these uses, drivers use their phone ten times an hour. “The average usage time is 32 seconds. The duration of use can sometimes reach several minutes“, the study emphasizes. However, experts noted the duration during which drivers take their eyes off the road during these tasks. “The average duration of a phase without looking at the road is 2.4 seconds“Mentioned by Cérema.”But the duration can reach 7 seconds, or 175 meters, during which the driver, driving at a speed of 90 km/h, does not look at the road…says Christophe Boutin. So much behavior as dangerous as it is illegal. “This is why the candidates for this study remain anonymous.“, – notes the official of Asfa, who recalls the numbers of the highway. “Of course, the drivers are quite good drivers. They account for 15% of traffic and 14% of fatal accidents. But they also account for 50% of accidents that affect highway crews.»
Additionally, according to the National Interagency Observatory for Highway Safety (ONISR), truck driver fatalities increased by 22% in 2021 compared to 2019 (+44 fatalities, which is 8 more) and +33% compared to 2020, or 11 who else?
Source: Le Figaro
