The Canadian Press reported this week that a safety group has called for tighter hours of service regulations, citing crash statistics from Transport Canada from 2000 to the end of 20002.

Canadians for Responsible and Safe Highways, the Canadian version of Citizens for Responsible and Safe Highways or CRASH, said a disproportionate number of fatal crashes involving tractor-trailer truck drivers occur between midnight and 6 a.m. The group said that one in five truckers was killed in a single vehicle accident before 6 a.m. despite the fact there are far fewer vehicles on the road at that time of day.
The group found that collision rates involving truckers are climbing in Canada and declining in the United States.
"What we have to look at is that in the United States they have a 10-hour driving shift; in Canada we have a 13-hour shift," said Doug Gableman of CRASH.
A proposed change in Canadian regulations would allow truckers to drive for up to 13 hours in an 18-hour period. The Teamsters union in Canada has called on Federal Transport Minister Jean Lapierre to withdraw the proposed change.