The Mindfulness for Professional Drivers Using Mantra as an Effective Method towards Safety Awareness

Abstract

In the profession of commercial driving, highway accident rates have continued to be on the rise each year. These tragic highway accidents have been annually reported by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).The accidents on public highways has been a great problem in the commercial driving industry, within the United States. Private companies in the United States have spent millions of dollars in establishing safety systems and programs to enhance the safety awareness of their professional drivers. The federal government investment in research on prevention and control of injury relative to research dollars spent for the other leading causes of death (Rice et al., 1989). The government has also contributed many programs to enforce safety practices to avoid road accidents, injuries, or fatalities. Although these safety programs are available to all commercial drivers, nonetheless the commitment to safety on the road still remains with the driver. They must continually possess the safety mindset and commitment to stay safe while driving on public highways or roads. Although a company has provided safety systems to their drivers, do they attain that safety mindset while driving on public highways? There is a possibility that a driver had learned safety systems but was not able to sustain that safety awareness throughout their driving journey on public highways. This study will provide an alternative method for a driver to reach and sustain a safety awareness mindset at any place and any time. This study will observe and document the results of the alternative method, Mantra FOCUS and compare it with a standard safety system, the Vehicle Inspection Report, VIR which is used to prepare a driver for gaining safety awareness.