Truck drivers say no to 'death-trap' seatbelts • Truck drivers
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do not want to wear seatbelts because they are scared of being trapped in their cabs following an accident.
A Commercial Motor survey has found that 68% of drivers are opposed to wearing a seat belt in their trucks; 31% are in favour and 1% are undecided.
Some of the drivers we interviewed at a busy truckstop in the south of England were unaware that if their trucks have seatbelts they are obliged to use them.
David Johnson, who drives for West Yorkshire-based Onward Transport, says that if he had been wearing a seat belt he might have been killed when his truck overturned.
He believes that the combination of an air-suspension seat, which he says could ride upwards, and a seatbelt could have been disastrous: "I would have been left hanging, but without a belt I found it easy to get out," he says. Seatbelts are particularly restrictive in multi-drop work when drivers are frequently getting in and out of their cabs, says Johnson.
El The full seatbelt survey will appear in next week's issue.