Abstract
Collisions or near-miss incidents caused by pregnant women drivers are likely to pose a life-threatening risk to the mother and fetus. Therefore, it is urgently necessary to analyze the causes of these events in pregnant women and ensure their safety. To clarify the actual conditions and causes of events in pregnant women drivers and to conduct safety education, we performed a questionnaire survey for pregnant women. The subjects were 696 pregnant women vehicle drivers who visited obstetrics and gynecology outpatient clinics or the maternity class. The collision rate for pregnant women drivers was 2.9％, and that of near-miss incidents was 7.8%. Of these, 4.6％ had vehicle collisions or near-miss incidents caused by themselves. The most common cause of events was “distraction”, followed by feeling discomfort due to “morning sickness”. When comparing the causes of events between early and late pregnancy, “feeling discomfort due to morning sickness” was significantly more common in early pregnancy（p＜0.05）. Since approximately one in ten pregnant women drivers experienced collisions or near-miss incidents, more attention is needed to promote safe driving. Due to the fact that several symptoms, especially in early pregnancy, might influence vehicle driving, healthcare providers prefer to advise pregnant women to drive under good health condition with adequate self-checkups.
