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Abstract
A program of research was conducted to investigate factors influencing hazardous material (hazmat) vehicle crashes which are a significant road safety problem in Thailand and many other countries. The aims were to evaluate crash causes with regard to driver and organisational factors relating to hazmat truck crashes in Thailand. Three studies were conducted to address a series of research objectives and hypotheses. 340 hazmat drivers and 32 carrier companies participated in the studies. Study One focused on driver-related behavioural factors. The results indicated that four factors of aberrant driving behaviour (i.e. factor 1 highway-code violations, factor 2 speeding violations, factor 4 lapses, and factor 5 mistakes) were a predictor of crash involvement. However, driver compliance with Thai hazmat transport regulations and driver attitude towards safety regulations were not predictive of crashes. Study Two focused on organisational safety management factors. The results indicated that the implementation of safety management systems (SMSs) regarding communication was mostly supported by fleet managers. Also, safety management practices (SMPs) that encouraged a driver safety response, e.g. financial reinforcement were preferred by fleet managers. However, SMPs relating to the active role of companies, e.g. control of hours of service were still only sporadically adopted.
Study Three was then performed to evaluate an aggregate effect of driver and organisational factors. The multilevel analysis of a two-level structure of these factors indicated that only an SMS component regarding control had a cross-level effect transmitting to driver crash outcome. Several SMS components and SMPs were also related to aberrant driving behavior. In summary, the studies suggest three possible pathways leading to an occurrence of hazmat truck crashes. (1) Driver attitude towards safety rules and regulations influenced driver behaviour regarding factor 1 highway-code violation. This factor, in turn, was significantly related to crash involvement. (2) Adoption of control of hours of service was related to factor 4 lapses while driving. The lapse factor was also predictive of crash involvement, and (3) Adoption of speed and route monitoring was related to factor 2 speeding violations. The speeding violation factor was found to be related to crash involvement. The findings are discussed and recommendations suggested in light of the particular work context and socio-cultural issues bearing on the hazmat transport industry in Thailand.