The Factors Influencing Fatigue Related to the Accident of Intercity Bus Drivers in Indonesia

As a developing country, Indonesia pursues advancement through rapid infrastructure expansion. However, in the transportation sector, safety is still a serious problem and requires attention. Road accidents in Indonesia with a high fatality mostly involve intercity buses. Most of the accidents are reportedly caused by human error, typically caused by a fatigued driver.  To understand the factors that influence general fatigue (F), three variables—subjective workload (WL), need for recovery (NR), and emotional intelligence (EI)—are discussed by considering time on task and time of day as factors. To assess the perceptions of 298 intercity bus drivers, this research was conducted using a questionnaire. There are statistically significant differences in the NR (p = 0.001) and EI level (p = 0.001) among the time on task group (less than three hours, three to five hours, and longer than five hours) but not for the WL. Meanwhile, for the time of day group (driving in the morning, afternoon, and at night) there are no significant differences of WL (p = 0.161), NR (p = 0.795), and EI level (p = 0.271). A Tukey post hoc test revealed that the NR and is statistically significantly higher for a duration longer than three hours (p = 0.025 and p = 0.000). Binomial logistic regression was run to understand the influence of WL, NR, and EI on subjective fatigue level, categorized into fatigue (1) and alert (0). The Hosmer–Lemeshow test showed that the model fit the data well, p = 0.673. The variables NR (p = 0.08) and EI (p = 0.020) statistically significantly predict general fatigue subjectively. Based on these results, EI and NR are suggested as factors that should be analyzed further concerning the issue of fatigue-related accidents. Both factors should also be considered in company’s fatigue management system.

Emotional intelligence; Fatigue; Intercity bus drivers; Need for recovery; Workload

The accidents involving buses have the potential to generate more casualties, in terms of both injuries and deaths, than smaller vehicles. Bus accidents are considered important in various countries, such as Malaysia and China (Mohamed et al., 2012; Sang and Li, 2012). Some efforts to improve traffic safety to reduce the rate of accidents continue to be carried out by the Indonesian government. It is believed that safety can be achieved through individual approaches based on basic human values and risk perception (Sutalaksana et al., 2019). Thus, understanding what values and how risk is perceived by people should become the foundation for developing any traffic safety program.

Traffic accidents have long been the subject of extensive research in Indonesia, and it becomes a highly important factor in identifying discrepancies in traffic management and the entire transportation system (Jusuf et al., 2017). The common consensus recognizes that traffic accidents are the result of three different factor types: human, vehicle, and external factors (including road conditions), with human factors having the strongest influence (Soehodho, 2017). Concerning human aspects, fatigue plays an important role in traffic accident risk, and the relationship between fatigue and traffic accident risk is a major aspect that must be considered to improve safety (Williamson et al., 2011). Fatigue is generally defined as physiological and biochemical changes in the body, muscles, central nerves, hormones, and blood (Phillips, 2015). Fatigue is also defined as a decrease in ability and performance characterized by reduced attention, perceptions, decision making, and operational capabilities (Toomingas et al., 2012; Hirshkowitz, 2013; Phillips, 2015). These performances could lead to unsafe driving behavior that plays a role in traffic accidents, such as overtaking, ignoring the speed limit, driving errors, aggressive behavior, and others (Wedagama and Wishar, 2018). The literature concluded that fatigue is related at least to three aspects: physiological, objective, and subjective aspects.

Some studies that explore the factors contributing to driver fatigue note several important factors, such as time on task, time of day, primary and secondary workload, demographic aspect, environment, road conditions, and others (Di Milia et al., 2011; Fergusin et al., 2012; Friswell and Williamson, 2013; Hirshkowitz, 2013; Phillips, 2015; Chen and Zhang, 2016). Some of this research reports a changing pattern in fatigue indicators that did not consistent with others findings (Craig et al., 2012). In other words, how fatigue define and its level cause by driving job still has gaps, including influential factors.

It has been agreed that workload influences fatigue. During a driving task, a high workload led to excessive fatigue, as did a low workload, particularly one featuring monotony (May and Baldwin, 2009). Sleep deprivation also induces a kind of fatigue categorized as sleep-related fatigue, while that related to workload is categorized as task-related fatigue. Based on these classifications, the perception of workload should be included in studies on fatigue. Understanding whether drivers have the potential for sleep-related fatigue is usually measured by the level of sleepiness before a driving task. However, risk likelihood scoring suggests assessing working conditions for the driver to get enough sleep/rest, driving duration, and night driving (Dawson et al., 2018).

Other factors may lead to fatigue, as humans are individually unique. The self-perceptions on certain condition can be influenced by intrinsic factors, such as emotional intelligence (EI). Therefore, some research suggests the role of emotions in cumulative fatigue (Kulik, 2011). EI includes skills of living, the abilities for empathy and understanding oneself, and the ability to build positive relationships with others (Kulik, 2011). The role of EI in cumulative fatigue is defined by its relation to the ability to cope with stress and adaptation to a certain cond

In this research, the discussion of fatigue-related accidents among intercity bus drivers added the EI variable, combined with the workload and need for recovery variables. Subjective workload is perceived as moderate (2.6 on average scale of one to five), while fatigue, NR and EI are moderate to high (³ 3.5). The most relevant factors related to the fatigue of intercity bus drivers are the need for recovery and EI variables. This study provides a new perspective on the factors influencing fatigue, although there are some limitations in the measurement tools. Any effort to reduce the rate of bus accidents should consider these variables. Therefore, they should be included in safety awareness training among intercity bus drivers.

        This study is supported by the Indonesia Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education as part of the Penelitian Unggulan Perguruan Tinggi Research Grant to Binus University with contract number: 225/SP2H/LT/DRPM/2019; 12/AKM/PNT/2019;039/VR.RTT/IV/2019 dated 27 March 2019.

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