In a fascinating new study, 1000 random people were presented with this statement:
“People shouldn’t smoke in highly populated areas where other people have to breathe in the cigarette fumes.” 75% agreed.
1000 different random people were presented with this almost identical statement:
"People shouldn’t drive in highly populated areas where other people have to breathe in the car fumes” Only 17% agreed.
What does this say about our ability to accurately perceive or evaluate risk? What risks do people accept when they are working that they would not accept outside of work?
Agree - motonormativity leads us to ignore the harm caused by vehicles because we are all complicit as drivers (or even as passengers).
That's why a few years ago Safeguard began to include media reports of truck crashes resulting in death (usually to a car driver) in the work-related incidents we report in Safeguard Update newsletter.
Just to try to make the point - probably ineffectually - that trucks are driven by workers who are in control of potentially lethal mobile plant, and that "health & safety" should encompass all the issues faced by truck drivers rather than treating commercial driving as purely a road safety issue and therefore ignorable by H&S people.