Essential but also vulnerable? Work intensification, effort/reward imbalance, fatigue and psychological health of Spanish cargo drivers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objective: This study investigates the combined effect of the Effort/Reward Imbalance (ERI) model of stress and work intensification within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic on the psychological health (general and work-related fatigue, and psychological strain) of cargo drivers, one of the most demanded workforces during the first year of this pandemic. Methods: For this cross-sectional research, the data provided by n = 1,013 professional drivers from the different 17 autonomous communities (regions) of Spain were analyzed. Participants answered a questionnaire composed of the short version of the Effort Reward Imbalance (ERI) questionnaire, a Work Intensification Scale (WIS) designed for this study, the fatigue subscale of the Checklist Individual Strength (CIS), the Need for Recovery after Work Scale (NFR), and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). Results: Hierarchical regression analyses show that both (ERI and work intensification) models significantly predict driver's fatigue and psychological strain. The effect of work intensification exists above and beyond the effect of effort/reward imbalance, which has been previously related to the safety performance of cargo drivers. Conclusions: These findings suggest that the ERI and work intensification models can be complementarily used, especially in scenarios introducing substantial changes in the work environment, such as the COVID-19 crisis. Also, the results of this study support the need to intervene in the working conditions of professional drivers in order to improve their psychological health and well-being during both pandemic and post-pandemic times, as crisis-related management interventions are necessary to promote health and safety in professional drivers in potentially similar contexts in the future.

Assessing Risk Perception over Recidivist Traffic Offenders from a Multi-group Approach: How Gendered Could It Be? / Evaluación de la percepción del riesgo en infractores de tráfico reincidentes desde un enfoque multigrupo y el efecto moderador del género

Objective:The core aim of this study was to examine the predictive role of demographic, psychosocial and driving features of Spanish drivers on their risk perception over recidivist traffic offenders, focusing on gender as a key differentiating factor.

Objetivo:El objetivo principal de este estudio es analizar el papel predictor que juegan las características demográficas, psicosociales y de conducción de los conductores españoles en la percepción del riesgo en comparación con los infractores reincidentes, centrándose en el género como factor clave diferenciador. Método: En este estudio transversal se han analizado datos de una muestra nacional compuesta de 1,711 conductores de las 17 regiones españolas (el 49% mujeres y el 51% hombres), con una media de edad de 40.07 años, que respondieron a una entrevista telefónica sobre temas relacionados con la seguridad vial. Se analizaron comparativamente los factores demográficos, los relativos a la conducción y los psicosociales por medio de pruebas robustas y de modelos multigrupo de ecuaciones estructurales (MGSEM). Resultados: Los resultados de este estudio indican que la edad de los conductores, su exposición al riesgo, su conocimiento de las normas de tráfico, su valoración de la aplicación de la ley y de los programas de reeducación vial, así como el número de multas de tráfico que han recibido, explican el riesgo que estos perciben en los infractores de tráfico reincidentes. En segundo lugar, en lo que se refiere a las diferencias estructurales, tres de las variables del estudio (la exposición a la conducción, la necesidad de cumplir las normas y los conocimientos de las normas de tráfico) parecen ejercer una influencia diferencial en la percepción del riesgo de acuerdo con el género de los conductores. Conclusión: Los resultados indican que tanto las características psicosociales como las referidas a la conducción predicen la percepción del riesgo de los conductores en relación a los infractores de tráfico reincidentes entre hombres y mujeres conductores. Esta investigación abunda en la necesidad de poner el énfasis en el género para potenciar los procesos de educación en la conducción, reeducación y entrenamiento dirigidos a abordar y prevenir la reincidencia en el campo del tráfico y de la movilidad.

Are Your Eyes "on the Road"? Findings from the 2019 National Study on Vision and Driving Safety in Spain.

Background: Vision is an undisputable contributor to the explanation of many human-factor related traffic crashes happening every day. The Inland Transport Committee (ITC), the United Nations regulatory platform, included on 1st April 2020 special action on the vision of road users inside the ITC Recommendations for Enhancing Road Safety Systems. The results of this wide-scale study on drivers' vision health conducted in Spain perfectly illustrates the need of global action and its potential impact on the public health figures and the burden of potentially preventable traffic causalities. Objective: The aim of this study was to assess three key visual health issues (i.e., visual acuity, visual field campimetry and glare recovery) among Spanish drivers, in order to formulate implications and possible guidelines to enhance road safety. Methods: This cross-sectional study examined the visual health of a representative sample of 3249 drivers (70% females and 30% males) with a mean age of 41 (SD = 13) years, gathered from all the 17 autonomous communities of Spain. Results: The tests performed allowed to determine that 15% of Spanish drivers have a poor photopic vision, while 38% of them present an inadequate mesopic vision. Further, 23% of drivers have deficiencies in peripheric visual field campimetry, and the average time for full-vision recovery after a 10-s glare was 27 s. Sex, age and driver type (professional vs. non-professional) differences were found for the study variables. Conclusions: The findings of this study support the idea that certain demographic-based population groups of drivers present several unaddressed deficiencies and impairments in visual health. Overall an estimated 29.5% of Spanish drivers present visual issues, that need to be attended in order to enhance the prevention of driving crashes and the road safety of all road users.

Perceived benefits and constraints in vehicle automation: Data to assess the relationship between driver's features and their attitudes towards autonomous vehicles.

This data article examines the association driver's features, perceptions and attitudes towards autonomous vehicles (AVs). The data was collected using a structured self-administrable and online-based questionnaire, applied to a full sample of 1205 Spanish drivers. The data contains 4 parts: the full set of bivariate correlations between study variables; descriptive statistics and graphical trends for each main study variable according to gender, age group and city/town size; and, finally, the dataset for further explorations in this regard. For more information, it is convenient to read the full article entitled "Perceived safety and attributed value as predictors of the intention to use autonomous vehicles: A national study with Spanish drivers" [1].