Researchers to determine if fuel-efficient driving lowers crash rates
The Traffic Injury Research Foundation (TIRF) is looking to see how fuel-efficient driving practices affect truck crashes and crash severity.
The research initiative is funded by Natural Resources Canada, and being supported by the Canadian Trucking Alliance and Private Motor Truck Council of Canada.
TIRF researchers are looking for fleets that operate only in Canada, or those that can identify drivers who only drive on this side of the border. And they would prefer operations with a fleet management system that can track data including a driver’s years of experience, crash and incident record, speed, distance traveled, acceleration and braking events, and also the vehicle type and size, and whether the vehicle is shared between drivers.
The study will run from May 2021 to June 2022, and will include 1,000 drivers operating Class 8 longhaul vehicles.
Participating fleets are being asked to provide data for six months, and ensure it is an anonymous dataset without any confidential or personal information.
The TIRF team is also stressing that the workload for participating companies will be minimal, and notes that researchers will help fleets mine data and use “eco-driving” to reduce incidents.
Those interested in participating can contact TIRF COO Ward Vanlaar at 613-240-4204, or email wardv@tirf.ca.
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