Evaluation of Traffic Accident Risk in In-City Bus Drivers: The Use of Berlin Questionnaire

Science.gov (United States)

Ekren, Pervin Korkmaz; Uysal, Funda Elmas; Başoğlu, Özen K.

2018-01-01

OBJECTIVES Traffic accidents associated with high mortality rate may produce serious problems especially in highways. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has been associated with a high risk for traffic accidents due to excessive daytime sleepiness even in in-city drivers. In the present study, it was aimed to evaluate the rate of OSA symptoms and to identify risk factors associated with traffic accidents in in-city bus drivers. MATERIAL AND METHODS A self-administered questionnaire including demographic and anthropometric features, sleep and work schedules, Berlin questionnaire, Epworth sleepiness score (ESS), and history of traffic accidents was used. RESULTS The questionnaire was conducted for 1400 male bus drivers (mean age, 38.0±6.4 y, body mass index, 27.8±3.9 kg/m2). A total of 1058 (75.6%) drivers had one or more accidents while driving bus. According to the Berlin questionnaire, 176 (12.6%) drivers were found to have high OSA risk and the accident rate was 83.0% in high-risk group, whereas 74.5% of low-risk drivers had accidents (p=0.043). The drivers with a history of traffic accident were older (p=0.030), had higher ESS (p=0.019), and were more in the high-risk OSA group according to the Berlin questionnaire (p=0.015). In multivariate linear regression analysis, traffic accident was associated with only Berlin questionnaire (p=0.015). CONCLUSION The present results support that city bus drivers with high OSA risk according to Berlin questionnaire have increased accident rates. Therefore, we suggest using Berlin questionnaire for screening sleep apnea not only in highway drivers but also in in-city bus drivers. PMID:29755810

Fitness to drive among commercial intercity drivers in Benin-City ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background: Unfit drivers are prone to road traffic accident, therefore their health is paramount in ensuring the safety of road users. To determine the fitness to drive among commercial intercity bus drivers in Benin City, Edo State Material and methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 194 ...

Sleepiness and sleep-disordered breathing in truck drivers : risk analysis of road accidents.

Science.gov (United States)

Catarino, Rosa; Spratley, Jorge; Catarino, Isabel; Lunet, Nuno; Pais-Clemente, Manuel

2014-03-01

Portugal has one of the highest road traffic fatality rates in Europe. A clear association between sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) and traffic accidents has been previously demonstrated. This study aimed to determine prevalence of excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) and other sleep disorder symptoms among truck drivers and to identify which individual traits and work habits are associated to increased sleepiness and accident risk. We evaluated a sample of 714 truck drivers using a questionnaire (244 face-to-face interviews, 470 self-administered) that included sociodemographic data, personal habits, previous accidents, Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), and the Berlin questionnaire (BQ). Twenty percent of drivers had EDS and 29 % were at high risk for having obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). Two hundred sixty-one drivers (36.6 %) reported near-miss accidents (42.5 % sleep related) and 264 (37.0 %), a driving accident (16.3 % sleep related). ESS score ≥ 11 was a risk factor for both near-miss accidents (odds ratio (OR)=3.84, paccidents (OR=2.25, paccidents (OR=3.30, p=0.03). We found an association between high Mallampati score (III-IV) and near misses (OR=1.89, p=0.04). In this sample of Portuguese truck drivers, we observed a high prevalence of EDS and other sleep disorder symptoms. Accident risk was related to sleepiness and antidepressant use. Identifying drivers at risk for OSAS should be a major priority of medical assessment centers, as a public safety policy.

An epidemiologic survey of road traffic accidents in Iran: analysis of driver-related factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Moafian, Ghasem; Aghabeigi, Mohammad-Reza; Heydari, Seyed Taghi; Hoseinzadeh, Amin; Lankarani, Kamran Bagheri; Sarikhani, Yaser

2013-01-01

Road traffic accident (RTA) and its related injuries contribute to a significant portion of the burden of diseases in Iran. This paper explores the association between driver-related factors and RTA in the country. This cross-sectional study was conducted in Iran and all data regarding RTAs from March 20, 2010 to June 10, 2010 were obtained from the Traffic Police Department. We included 538 588 RTA records, which were classified to control for the main confounders: accident type, final cause of accident, time of accident and driver-related factors. Driver-related factors included sex, educational level, license type, type of injury, duration between accident and getting the driving license and driver's error type. A total of 538 588 drivers (91.83% male, sex ratio of almost 13:1) were involved in the RTAs. Among them 423 932 (78.71%) were uninjured; 224 818 (41.74%) had a diploma degree. Grade 2 driving license represented the highest proportion of all driving licenses (290 811, 54.00%). The greatest number of accidents took place at 12:00-13:59 (75 024, 13.93%). The proportion of drivers involved in RTAs decreased from 15.90% in the first year of getting a driving license to 3.13% after 10 years'of driving experience. Neglect of regulations was the commonest cause of traffic crashes (345 589, 64.17%). Non-observance of priority and inattention to the front were the most frequent final causes of death (138 175, 25.66% and 129 352, 24.02%, respectively). We found significant association between type of accident and sex, education, license type, time of accident, final cause of accident, driver's error as well as duration between accident and getting the driving license (all P less than 0.001). Our results will improve the traffic law enforcement measures, which will change inappropriate behavior of drivers and protect the least experienced road users.

Underbelly injury based identification of the driver in a three-rider motorcycle accident.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Shengxiong; Yin, Zhiyong; Su, Sen; Li, Kui

2016-01-01

This paper presents a three-rider motorcycle accident which took place in a suburb of Chongqing China. In the accident, the motorcycle impacted the terminal of a bridge footpath and led to two riders died and one rider injured. After the accident, one rider received injuries around the groin area including the underbelly area and the perineum area. Another rider suffered from injuries only on the perineum areas. In medico-legal judgments, injuries around the groin area also called groin injuries in victims of motorcycle accidents are usually regarded as "fuel tank injuries" which are commonly found in drivers. But, the injuries around the groin area are sometimes confused with the perineum injuries. Therefore, the perineum injuries are often wrongly reckoned as the "fuel tank injuries" and used to identify the drivers too. Actually, passengers can sometimes suffer from perineum injuries in many head-on impacting motorcycle accidents. It is of vital matters to understand the differences between groin injuries and perineum injuries so that the real driver who should be responsible for the accident can be recognized. In this paper, the three-rider motorcycle accident was presented and the injury information of the three riders was studied in order to distinguish the real driver from the riders. We consider that the groin injury has some differences with the perineum injury and the latter should not always be related to the driver especially in high-speed head-on impacting motorcycle accidents. In addition, the injury on underbelly areas is important to identify the driver. Crown Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Young driver accidents in Europe : characteristic young driver accidents in the member states of the European Union.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Twisk, D.A.M.

1994-01-01

This paper presents the results of a study into characteristic young driver accidents. The aim was to bundle the information from the research institutes in the member states of the European Union by using a questionnaire. Information was received from all but one country. All countries report a

Aberrant Behaviors and Road Accidents among Iranian Truck Drivers, 2010

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Amir Houshang Mehrparvar

2011-12-01

Full Text Available structural dimensions of which as well as technologic failures such as road quality, and tech-nical faults of automobiles, need to be assessed in detail. Iran has the first order in the world for deadly road accidents. This study was designed to assess the association between aberrant behaviors of truck drivers and the incidence of road accidents in Yazd, center of Iran, in 2010.Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive-analytic study was conducted on 300 truck drivers in Yazd. We used 3 questionnaires, including one for demographic data, Driver Behavior Questionnaire (DBQ, and one for drivers' self-evaluation of the of their driving.Results: Five types of the behavior had the highest frequency: Misjudge speed of oncoming vehicle when overtaking.; Deliberately disregard the speed limits late at night or very early in the morning.; Ignore 'give way' signs, and narrowly avoid colliding with traffic having right of way.; Stuck behind a slow-moving vehicle on a two-lane highway, you are driven by frustration to try to overtake in risky circumstances.; Drive with only 'half-an-eye' on the road while looking at a map, changing a cassette or radio channel, etc. The more the driver's driv-ing was influenced by emotional and mental states the more deliberate violations and slips.Conclusion: Among truck drivers, safety has not developed sufficiently, and because of the dangers of road accidents both for the drivers and other people and its economic losses, the importance of the presenting some solutions is completely obvious.

Road rage and road traffic accidents among commercial vehicle drivers in Lahore, Pakistan.

Science.gov (United States)

Shaikh, M A; Shaikh, I A; Siddiqui, Z

2012-04-01

Road rage and road traffic accidents increase the burden of morbidity and mortality in a population. A cross-sectional survey with convenience sampling was conducted among commercial vehicle drivers in Lahore, Pakistan (n = 901) to record their behaviours/experiences regarding road rage and road traffic accidents. Respondents were asked about incidents of shouting/cursing/rude gestures or threats to physically hurt the person/vehicle, by others or themselves, in the previous 24 hours or 3 months, and their involvement in road traffic accidents in the previous 12 months. Auto-rickshaw drivers were significantly more likely to report various road rage experiences/behaviours and involvement in accidents compared with bus and wagon drivers. A total of 112 respondents (12.4%) reported being involved in a road traffic accident in the previous 12 months but traffic police did not record the accident in 52.7% of cases. The results of this study underline the need to improve road safety in Pakistan.

An epidemiologic survey of road traffic accidents in Iran: analysis of driver-related factors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Moafian Ghasem

2013-06-01

Full Text Available 【Abstract】Objective: Road traffic accident (RTA and its related injuries contribute to a significant portion of the burden of diseases in Iran. This paper explores the as-sociation between driver-related factors and RTA in the country. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Iran and all data regarding RTAs from March 20, 2010 to June 10, 2010 were obtained from the Traffic Police Department. We included 538 588 RTA records, which were classified to control for the main confounders: accident type, final cause of accident, time of accident and driver-related factors. Driver-related factors included sex, educational level, license type, type of injury, duration between accident and getting the driving license and driver’s error type. Results: A total of 538 588 drivers (91.83% male, sex ratio of almost 13:1 were involved in the RTAs. Among them 423 932 (78.71% were uninjured; 224 818 (41.74% had a diploma degree. Grade 2 driving license represented the highest proportion of all driving licenses (290 811, 54.00%. The greatest number of accidents took place at 12:00-13:59 (75 024, 13.93%. The proportion of drivers involved in RTAs decreased from 15.90% in the first year of getting a driving license to 3.13% after 10 years’ of driving experience. Ne-glect of regulations was the commonest cause of traffic crashes (345 589, 64.17%. Non-observance of priority and inattention to the front were the most frequent final causes of death (138 175, 25.66% and 129 352, 24.02%, respectively. We found significant association between type of acci-dent and sex, education, license type, time of accident, final cause of accident, driver’s error as well as duration between accident and getting the driving license (all P<0.001. Conclusion: Our results will improve the traffic law enforcement measures, which will change inappropriate be-havior of drivers and protect the least experienced road users. Key words: Accidents, traffic; Automobile

A Model for Traffic Accidents Prediction Based on Driver Personality Traits Assessment

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Marjana Čubranić-Dobrodolac

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The model proposed in this paper uses four psychological instruments for assessing driver behaviour and personality traits aiming to find a relationship between the considered constructs and the occurrence of traffic accidents. A Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11 was used for the assessment of impulsivity, Aggressive Driving Behaviour Questionnaire (ADBQ for assessing the aggressiveness while driving, Manchester Driver Attitude Questionnaire (DAQ and the Questionnaire for self-assessment of driving ability. Besides these instruments, the participants filled out an extensive demographic survey. Within the statistical analysis, in addition to the descriptive indicators, correlation coefficients were calculated and four hierarchical regression analyses were performed to determine the predictive power of personality traits on the occurrence of traffic accidents. Further, to confirm the results and to obtain additional information about the relationship between the considered variables, the structural equation modelling and binary logistic regression have been implemented. A sample of this research covered 305 drivers, of which there were 100 bus drivers and 102 truck drivers, as well as 103 drivers of privately owned vehicles. The results indicate that BIS-11 and ADBQ questionnaires show the best predictive power which means that impulsivity and aggressiveness as personality traits have the greatest influence on the occurrence of traffic accidents. This research could be useful in many fields, such as the design of selection procedures for professional drivers, development of programs for the prevention of traffic accidents and violations of law, rehabilitation of drivers who have been deprived of the driving license, etc.

Cell Phone-Related Near Accidents Among Young Drivers: Associations With Mindfulness.

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Terry, Christopher P; Terry, Danielle L

2015-01-01

Cell phone use while driving (CPWD) has been shown to significantly reduce driver safety. This is a particular concern among young drivers who possess less driving experience and tend to engage in high rates of cell phone use. The present study identified psychological predictors of near accidents related to CPWD among a sample of 385 college student drivers. Participants answered a series of questions regarding their use of a cell phone while driving and completed measures of mindfulness, polychronicity, and intrusive thinking. Students who reported talking on their phone or texting more frequently while driving reported a higher incidence of near accidents related to each behavior. However, after controlling for CPWD, multiple regression analysis indicated that those who reported experiencing more cell phone-related intrusive thoughts also experienced more near accidents. Furthermore, two facets of mindfulness--acting with awareness and nonjudging of inner experience--were negatively associated with near accidents. These findings suggest that individuals who are more aware of the present moment and accepting of their affective responses may better regulate their attention while using a cell phone behind the wheel.

Factors correlated with traffic accidents as a basis for evaluating Advanced Driver Assistance Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Staubach, Maria

2009-09-01

This study aims to identify factors which influence and cause errors in traffic accidents and to use these as a basis for information to guide the application and design of driver assistance systems. A total of 474 accidents were examined in depth for this study by means of a psychological survey, data from accident reports, and technical reconstruction information. An error analysis was subsequently carried out, taking into account the driver, environment, and vehicle sub-systems. Results showed that all accidents were influenced by errors as a consequence of distraction and reduced activity. For crossroad accidents, there were further errors resulting from sight obstruction, masked stimuli, focus errors, and law infringements. Lane departure crashes were additionally caused by errors as a result of masked stimuli, law infringements, expectation errors as well as objective and action slips, while same direction accidents occurred additionally because of focus errors, expectation errors, and objective and action slips. Most accidents were influenced by multiple factors. There is a safety potential for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), which support the driver in information assimilation and help to avoid distraction and reduced activity. The design of the ADAS is dependent on the specific influencing factors of the accident type.

Cognitive characteristics of older Japanese drivers.

Science.gov (United States)

Susilowati, Indri H; Yasukouchi, Akira

2012-02-29

Some causes of accidents among older drivers are: not paying attention to traffic signals; missing stop lines; and having to deal with and misjudging emergency situations. These causes of accidents reveal problems with attention and cognition. Such incidents are also related to driver perception and stress-coping mechanisms. It is important to examine the relation of stress reactions to attention and cognition as a factor influencing the causes of accidents commonly involving older drivers. Subjects were 10 young drivers (23.3 ± 3.33 years) and 25 older drivers divided into two groups (older1 [60 to 65 years] and older2 [> 65 years]). This study revealed the correlation within driver stress inventory and driver coping questionnaires parameters was observed only in older drivers. They also needed a longer response time for Trail Making Test A and B. The factors affected the attention and cognition of older drivers by age but not driving experience itself, and coping parameters such as emotion focus, reappraisal, and avoidance were not included as stress inventory parameters. Being prone to fatigue was less for younger drivers than older drivers. Because they have shorter distances, shorter drive times, and no need for expressways, older drivers also had a significantly lower risk of thrill-seeking behaviour and more patience. The intervention addressing their attention skills, aggressive feelings, and emotion focus should be considered. The technological improvements in cars will make older drivers feel safer and make driving easier which might lower the attention paid to the road, and regular driving training might be needed to assess and enhance their safety.

Sleep habits and road traffic accident risk for Iranian occupational drivers.

Science.gov (United States)

Ebrahimi, Mohammad Hossein; Sadeghi, Masoumeh; Dehghani, Mohsen; Niiat, Khosro Sadegh

2015-01-01

The aim of this study is to assess the sleep quality and sleep disorders (prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea and sleepiness) among occupational drivers in Iran and to determine which demographic factors and occupational habits are linked to road traffic accidents. In this analytic cross-sectional study 556 occupational road drivers from Shahroud city (in the northeast of Iran) participated, upon a prior verbal informed consent, during 2013-2014. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) standard questionnaire that scored on 7 point scale, the 8-item Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) questionnaire and the 8-question STOP-Bang questionnaire along with demographic information and occupational data were used. To explore the independent factors associated with odds of poor sleep quality and road accident, multiple logistic regression models were used. Prevalence of previous road accidents, sleepiness while driving, and obstructive sleep apnea scored ≥ 3 in the study, and drivers accounted for 23.8%, 29%, and 24.8%, respectively. The global mean score of sleep quality and excessive sleepiness score were 5.2 and 4.8, respectively. The main factors related to the odds of poor sleep quality were snoring (odds ratio (OR) = 2.34; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.15-4.77), smoking (OR = 2.12; 95% CI: 1.15-3.97), and driving times in a day (OR = 1.12; 95% CI: 1.03-1.21). The Epworth Sleepiness Scale (OR = 1.13; 95% CI: 1.07-1.23) and suffering from apnea (OR = 4.89; 95% CI: 1.07-23.83) were the best predictors for odds (increased risk) of road accidents. A considerable proportion of Iranian drivers had records of road accidents; poor sleep quality, sleepiness while driving, and sleep disorder breathing (obstructive sleep apnea - OSA). Snoring, smoking, driving time in a day, excessive sleepiness, and presumably apnea increase the odds of poor sleep quality and road traffic accident for Iranian occupational drivers. This work is available in Open Access model and licensed under

The impact of young drivers' lifestyle on their road traffic accident risk in greater Athens area.

Science.gov (United States)

Chliaoutakis, J E; Darviri, C; Demakakos, P T

1999-11-01

Young drivers (18-24) both in Greece and elsewhere appear to have high rates of road traffic accidents. Many factors contribute to the creation of these high road traffic accidents rates. It has been suggested that lifestyle is an important one. The main objective of this study is to find out and clarify the (potential) relationship between young drivers' lifestyle and the road traffic accident risk they face. Moreover, to examine if all the youngsters have the same elevated risk on the road or not. The sample consisted of 241 young Greek drivers of both sexes. The statistical analysis included factor analysis and logistic regression analysis. Through the principal component analysis a ten factor scale was created which included the basic lifestyle traits of young Greek drivers. The logistic regression analysis showed that the young drivers whose dominant lifestyle trait is alcohol consumption or drive without destination have high accident risk, while these whose dominant lifestyle trait is culture, face low accident risk. Furthermore, young drivers who are religious in one way or another seem to have low accident risk. Finally, some preliminary observations on how health promotion should be put into practice are discussed.

How to identify the key factors that affect driver perception of accident risk. A comparison between Italian and Spanish driver behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

de Oña, Juan; de Oña, Rocio; Eboli, Laura; Forciniti, Carmen; Mazzulla, Gabriella

2014-12-01

Road crashes can be caused by different factors, including infrastructure, vehicles, and human variables. Many research studies have focused solely on identifying the key factors that cause road crashes. From these studies, it emerged that human factors have the most relevant impact on accident severity. More specifically, accident severity depends on several factors related directly to the driver, i.e., driving experience, driver's socio-economic characteristics, and driving behavior and attitudes. In this paper, we investigate driver behaviors and attitudes while driving and specifically focus on different methods for identifying the factors that most affect the driver's perception of accident risk. To this end, we designed and conducted a survey in two different European contexts: the city of Cosenza, which is located in the south of Italy, and the city of Granada, which is located in the south of Spain. Samples of drivers were contacted for their opinions on certain aspects of driving rules and attitudes while driving, and different types of questions were addressed to the drivers to assess their judgments of these aspects. Consequently, different methods of data analysis were applied to determine the aspects that heavily influence driver perception of accident risk. An experiment based on the stated preferences (SP) was carried out with the drivers, and the SP data were analyzed using an ordered probit (OP) model. Interesting findings emerged from different analyses of the data and from the comparisons among the data collected in the two different territorial contexts. We found that both Italian and Spanish drivers consider driving in an altered psychophysical state and violating the overtaking rules to be the most risky behaviors. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cognitive characteristics of older Japanese drivers

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Susilowati Indri H

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Some causes of accidents among older drivers are: not paying attention to traffic signals; missing stop lines; and having to deal with and misjudging emergency situations. These causes of accidents reveal problems with attention and cognition. Such incidents are also related to driver perception and stress-coping mechanisms. It is important to examine the relation of stress reactions to attention and cognition as a factor influencing the causes of accidents commonly involving older drivers. Finding Subjects were 10 young drivers (23.3 ± 3.33 years and 25 older drivers divided into two groups (older1 [60 to 65 years] and older2 [> 65 years]. This study revealed the correlation within driver stress inventory and driver coping questionnaires parameters was observed only in older drivers. They also needed a longer response time for Trail Making Test A and B. The factors affected the attention and cognition of older drivers by age but not driving experience itself, and coping parameters such as emotion focus, reappraisal, and avoidance were not included as stress inventory parameters. Being prone to fatigue was less for younger drivers than older drivers. Because they have shorter distances, shorter drive times, and no need for expressways, older drivers also had a significantly lower risk of thrill-seeking behaviour and more patience. Conclusion The intervention addressing their attention skills, aggressive feelings, and emotion focus should be considered. The technological improvements in cars will make older drivers feel safer and make driving easier which might lower the attention paid to the road, and regular driving training might be needed to assess and enhance their safety.

What are the factors that contribute to road accidents? An assessment of law enforcement views, ordinary drivers' opinions, and road accident records.

Science.gov (United States)

Rolison, Jonathan J; Regev, Shirley; Moutari, Salissou; Feeney, Aidan

2018-06-01

What are the main contributing factors to road accidents? Factors such as inexperience, lack of skill, and risk-taking behaviors have been associated with the collisions of young drivers. In contrast, visual, cognitive, and mobility impairment have been associated with the collisions of older drivers. We investigated the main causes of road accidents by drawing on multiple sources: expert views of police officers, lay views of the driving public, and official road accident records. In Studies 1 and 2, police officers and the public were asked about the typical causes of road traffic collisions using hypothetical accident scenarios. In Study 3, we investigated whether the views of police officers and the public about accident causation influence their recall accuracy for factors reported to contribute to hypothetical road accidents. The results show that both expert views of police officers and lay views of the driving public closely approximated the typical factors associated with the collisions of young and older drivers, as determined from official accident records. The results also reveal potential underreporting of factors in existing accident records, identifying possible inadequacies in law enforcement practices for investigating driver distraction, drug and alcohol impairment, and uncorrected or defective eyesight. Our investigation also highlights a need for accident report forms to be continuously reviewed and updated to ensure that contributing factor lists reflect the full range of factors that contribute to road accidents. Finally, the views held by police officers and the public on accident causation influenced their memory recall of factors involved in hypothetical scenarios. These findings indicate that delay in completing accident report forms should be minimised, possibly by use of mobile reporting devices at the accident scene. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Risk factors affecting fatal bus accident severity: Their impact on different types of bus drivers.

Science.gov (United States)

Feng, Shumin; Li, Zhenning; Ci, Yusheng; Zhang, Guohui

2016-01-01

While the bus is generally considered to be a relatively safe means of transportation, the property losses and casualties caused by bus accidents, especially fatal ones, are far from negligible. The reasons for a driver to incur fatalities are different in each case, and it is essential to discover the underlying risk factors of bus fatality severity for different types of drivers in order to improve bus safety. The current study investigates the underlying risk factors of fatal bus accident severity to different types of drivers in the U.S. by estimating an ordered logistic model. Data for the analysis are retrieved from the Buses Involved in Fatal Accidents (BIFA) database from the USA for the years 2006-2010. Accidents are divided into three levels by counting their equivalent fatalities, and the drivers are classified into three clusters by the K-means cluster analysis. The analysis shows that some risk factors have the same impact on different types of drivers, they are: (a) season; (b) day of week; (c) time period; (d) number of vehicles involved; (e) land use; (f) manner of collision; (g) speed limit; (h) snow or ice surface condition; (i) school bus; (j) bus type and seating capacity; (k) driver's age; (l) driver's gender; (m) risky behaviors; and (n) restraint system. Results also show that some risk factors only have impact on the "young and elder drivers with history of traffic violations", they are: (a) section type; (b) number of lanes per direction; (c) roadway profile; (d) wet road surface; and (e) cyclist-bus accident. Notably, history of traffic violations has different impact on different types of bus drivers. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Relationships of working conditions, health problems and vehicle accidents in bus rapid transit (BRT) drivers.

Science.gov (United States)

Gómez-Ortiz, Viviola; Cendales, Boris; Useche, Sergio; Bocarejo, Juan P

2018-04-01

The aim of this study was to estimate accident risk rates and mental health of bus rapid transit (BRT) drivers based on psychosocial risk factors at work leading to increased stress and health problems. A cross-sectional research design utilized a self-report questionnaire completed by 524 BRT drivers. Some working conditions of BRT drivers (lack of social support from supervisors and perceived potential for risk) may partially explain Bogota's BRT drivers' involvement in road accidents. Drivers' mental health problems were associated with higher job strain, less support from co-workers, fewer rewards and greater signal conflict while driving. To prevent bus accidents, supervisory support may need to be increased. To prevent mental health problems, other interventions may be needed such as reducing demands, increasing job control, reducing amount of incoming information, simplifying current signals, making signals less contradictory, and revising rewards. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Truck Drivers' Experiences and Perspectives Regarding Factors Influencing Traffic Accidents: A Qualitative Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Karimi Moonaghi, Hossein; Ranjbar, Hossein; Heydari, Abbas; Scurlock-Evans, Laura

2015-08-01

Traffic accidents are a major public health problem, leading to death and disability. Although pertinent studies have been conducted, little data are available in Iran. This study explored the experiences of truck drivers and their perspectives regarding factors contributing to traffic accidents. Eighteen truck drivers, purposively sampled, participated in semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. A main theme, lack of ability to control stress, emerged as a factor influencing the incidence of traffic accidents. This main theme was found to have three subthemes: poor organization of the job, lack of workplace facilities and proper equipment, and unsupportive environment. Although several factors were found to contribute to traffic accidents, their effects were not independent, and all were considered significant. Identifying factors that contribute to traffic accidents requires a systematic and holistic approach. Findings could be used by the transportation industry and community health centers to prevent traffic accidents. © 2015 The Author(s).

Identification of Drivers in Traffic Accidents and Determination of Passenger Position in a Vehicle by Finger Marks

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Matej Trapečar

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The following paper aims to illustrate certain investigative activities in the forensic analysis and examination of the scene of traffic accidents. When a traffic accident occurs, the scene must be secured as soon as possible to enable professional and proper forensic investigation. Failure to secure the accident scene might result in losing or contaminating the traces, which makes it more difficult to prove or explain trace evidence in further procedure or even makes such evidence inadmissible. The topic is discussed from the viewpoint of crime scene examination, since analysing and investigating traffic accidents requires a great deal of expertise and attention of the investigators. Complex traffic accidents include feigned accidents, hit-and-run accidents as well as accidents in which the driver and passengers, dead or alive, need to be identified. In identifying the passengers, standard criminal investigation methods as well as police forensic and forensic medicine methods are followed. Such methods include confirming the identities with identity documents, other documents and vehicle ownership, fingerprints, biological traces, fibre traces, contact traces, traces of physical injuries on the driver and passengers, etc. According to the results obtained in fingerprint detection on human skin surfaces, this method can also be applied in confirming physical contact between the driver and the passengers in the accident, e.g. in the event of moving the victims and changing the scene of the accident.   Key words: traffic accidents, accident analysis, driver's identity, passengers' position, finger marks, human skin

Relation between workplace accidents and the levels of carboxyhemoglobin in motorcycle taxi drivers.

Science.gov (United States)

da Silva, Luiz Almeida; Robazzi, Maria Lúcia do Carmo Cruz; Terra, Fábio de Souza

2013-01-01

To investigate the relation between workplace accidents and the levels of carboxyhemoglobin found in motorcycle taxi drivers. Correlational, quantitative study involving 111 workers and data obtained in July 2012 through a questionnaire to characterize the participants and blood collection to measure carboxyhemoglobin levels. 28.8% had suffered workplace accidents; 27.6% had fractured the lower limbs and significant symptoms of carbon monoxide exposure were verified in smokers. The carboxyhemoglobin levels were higher among smokers and victims of workplace accidents. Motorcycle taxi drivers had increased levels of carboxyhemoglobin, possibly due to the exposure to carbon monoxide; these levels are also increased among smokers and victims of workplace accidents. The study provides advances in the knowledge about occupational health and environmental science, and also shows that carboxyhemoglobin can be an indicator of exposure to environmental pollutants for those working outdoors, which can be related to workplace accidents.

The Use of Accidents and Traffic Offences as Criteria for Evaluating Courses in Driver Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Shaoul, Jean

A road safety study was conducted by the University of Salford, Great Britain, in order to evaluate the effects of secondary level driver education in reducing the occurrence of accidents. It examines the feasibility of using accidents and traffic offenses as criteria for evaluating courses in driver education. To achieve this objective, 1,800…

Road traffic offending, stress, age, and accident history among male and female drivers.

Science.gov (United States)

Simon, F; Corbett, C

1996-05-01

This paper draws on data gathered during a larger study of driving behaviour to explore possible connections between stress, offending against the traffic laws, and accident rates, and gives particular attention to comparisons between male and female drivers. Data were gathered from 422 drivers by a postal questionnaire, and further measures of stress were obtained during semi-structured interviews with a specially selected subset of 66 of them. Analyses of variance investigated links between offending rates, accident history, and up to seven measures of stress, taking age and gender into account. In the results accident history, although positively related to offending, played little part in links involving stress variables. The principal findings were that (a) stress, both on and off the road, was positively associated with offending among both male and female drivers, and (b) although females overall offended less than males, females experienced more stress than males whatever their level of offending. One possible interpretation of these results is suggested by the feminist literature, which could account for both the higher levels of stress and lower levels of offending found among women drivers. However, there is unlikely to be a clear-cut gender divide in offending-stress relationships, and some small groups of female drivers in the study behaved like male ones. It is suggested that people's driving reflects their lifestyles, and that women drivers' patterns of offending and stress will resemble those of male drivers to the extent that their lives and concerns are similar to men's. It is concluded that this position warrants further research.

Relation between workplace accidents and the levels of carboxyhemoglobin in motorcycle taxi drivers

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Luiz Almeida da Silva

2013-09-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: to investigate the relation between workplace accidents and the levels of carboxyhemoglobin found in motorcycle taxi drivers. METHOD: correlational, quantitative study involving 111 workers and data obtained in July 2012 through a questionnaire to characterize the participants and blood collection to measure carboxyhemoglobin levels. RESULT: 28.8% had suffered workplace accidents; 27.6% had fractured the lower limbs and significant symptoms of carbon monoxide exposure were verified in smokers. The carboxyhemoglobin levels were higher among smokers and victims of workplace accidents. CONCLUSION: motorcycle taxi drivers had increased levels of carboxyhemoglobin, possibly due to the exposure to carbon monoxide; these levels are also increased among smokers and victims of workplace accidents. The study provides advances in the knowledge about occupational health and environmental science, and also shows that carboxyhemoglobin can be an indicator of exposure to environmental pollutants for those working outdoors, which can be related to workplace accidents.

Injuries and absenteeism among motorcycle taxi drivers who are victims of traffic accidents.

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Barbosa, Kevan G N; Lucas-Neto, Alfredo; Gama, Bruno D; Lima-Neto, Jose C; Lucas, Rilva Suely C C; d'Ávila, Sérgio

2014-08-01

Facial injuries frequently occur in traffic accidents involving motorcycles. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of facial injuries among motorcycle drivers who perform motorcycle taxi service. The study design was cross-sectional. A total of 210 participants who served as motorcycle taxi drivers in a city in northeastern Brazil completed a survey concerning their experience of accidents involving facial injuries and consequent hospitalization and absenteeism from work. The motorcycle drivers included in the study were randomly selected from a list provided by the city. Out of the respondents, 165 (78.6%) who were involved in traffic accidents in the last 12 months, 15 (9.1%) reported facial injuries. The types of facial injury most frequently reported involved soft tissues (n = 8; 53.3%), followed by simple fracture (n = 4; 26.7%) and dentoalveolar fracture (n = 3; 20%). We found an association between facial injuries and absenteeism, as well as an association between the presence of facial injury and the need for hospitalization for a period of 2 days or more. Respondents reported that they had accidents, but due to the use of full face motorcycle helmet the number of facial injuries was low. For most of them, absenteeism was observed for a period of one month or more. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd and Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine. All rights reserved.

Neck sprain after motor vehicle accidents in drivers and passengers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Versteegen, GJ; Kingma, J; Meijler, WJ; ten Duis, HJ

2000-01-01

Neck sprain is a general term denoting a soft tissue injury of the neck, which seldom causes major disability but is considered a modem epidemic. The purpose of the present study was to determine the prevalence of sprain of the neck injury due to motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) in both drivers and

Seroepidemiology of Toxoplasma gondii infection in drivers involved in road traffic accidents in the metropolitan area of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico.

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Galván-Ramírez, Ma de la Luz; Sánchez-Orozco, Laura Verónica; Rodríguez, Laura Rocío; Rodríguez, Saúl; Roig-Melo, Enrique; Troyo Sanromán, Rogelio; Chiquete, Erwin; Armendáriz-Borunda, Juan

2013-10-11

The prevalence of toxoplasmosis in the general population of Guadalajara, Mexico, is around 32%. Toxoplasmosis can cause ocular lesions and slowing of reaction reflexes. Latent toxoplasmosis has been related with traffic accidents. We aimed to assess the prevalence of anti-Toxoplasma gondii antibodies and visual impairments related with traffic accidents in drivers from the metropolitan Guadalajara. We prospectively evaluated the prevalence of IgG and IgM anti-T. gondii antibodies in 159 individuals involved in traffic accidents, and in 164 control drivers never involved in accidents. Cases of toxoplasmosis reactivation or acute infection were detected by PCR in a subset of 71 drivers studied for the presence of T. gondii DNA in blood samples. Ophthalmologic examinations were performed in drivers with IgG anti-T. gondii antibodies in search of ocular toxoplasmosis. Fifty-four (34%) traffic accident drivers and 59 (36%) controls were positive to IgG anti-T. gondii antibodies (p = 0.70). Among the 113 seropositive participants, mean anti-T. gondii IgG antibodies titers were higher in traffic accident drivers than in controls (237.9 ± 308.5 IU/ml vs. 122.9 ± 112.7 IU/ml, respectively; p = 0.01 by Student's t test, p = 0.037 by Mann-Whitney U test). In multivariate analyses, anti-T. gondii IgG antibody titers were consistently associated with an increased risk of traffic accidents, whereas age showed an inverse association. The presence of IgM-anti-T. gondii antibodies was found in three (1.9%) subjects among traffic accident drives, and in two (1.2%) controls. Three (4.2%) samples were positive for the presence of T. gondii DNA, all among seropositive individuals. No signs of ocular toxoplasmosis were found in the entire cohort. Moreover, no other ocular conditions were found to be associated with the risk of traffic accidents in a multivariate analysis. Anti-T. gondii antibody titers are associated with the risk of traffic accidents. We could not determine any

A novel framework for improvement of road accidents considering decision-making styles of drivers in a large metropolitan area.

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Azadeh, Ali; Zarrin, Mansour; Hamid, Mehdi

2016-02-01

Road accidents can be caused by different factors such as human factors. Quality of the decision-making process of drivers could have a considerable impact on preventing disasters. The main objective of this study is the analysis of factors affecting road accidents by considering the severity of accidents and decision-making styles of drivers. To this end, a novel framework is proposed based on data envelopment analysis (DEA) and statistical methods (SMs) to assess the factors affecting road accidents. In this study, for the first time, dominant decision-making styles of drivers with respect to severity of injuries are identified. To show the applicability of the proposed framework, this research employs actual data of more than 500 samples in Tehran, Iran. The empirical results indicate that the flexible decision style is the dominant style for both minor and severe levels of accident injuries. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Usefulness of post mortem computed tomography versus conventional forensic autopsy of road accident victims (drivers and passengers).

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Moskała, Artur; Woźniak, Krzysztof; Kluza, Piotr; Romaszko, Karol; Lopatin, Oleksiy

2017-01-01

Aim of the study: Deaths of in-vehicle victims (drivers and passengers) of road accidents represent a significant group of issues addressed by forensic medicine. Expressing opinions in this regard involves first of all the determination of the cause of death and the forensic pathologist's participation in the process of road accident reconstruction through defining the mechanism of bodily harm. The scope of the opinion as well as its accuracy and degree of detail largely depend on the scope of forensic autopsy. In this context, techniques that broaden the capabilities of standard autopsy are of particular importance. This paper compares the results of post mortem computed tomography (PMCT) of road accident victims (drivers and passengers) against the results of standard examination in order to determine the scope to which PMCT significantly enhances autopsy capabilities. Material and methods: The analysis covers 118 in-vehicle victims (drivers and passengers) examined from 2012 to 2014. In each case, post-mortem examination was preceded by PMCT examination using Somatom Emotion 16 (Siemens AG, Germany). Results: The results are presented in a tabular form. Conclusions: In most road accident victims (drivers and passengers), post mortem computed tomography significantly increases the results' degree of detail, particularly with regard to injuries of bones and gas collections.

Road traffic accidents and self-reported Portuguese car driver's attitudes, behaviors, and opinions: Are they related?

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Bon de Sousa, Teresa; Santos, Carolina; Mateus, Ceu; Areal, Alain; Trigoso, Jose; Nunes, Carla

2016-10-02

This study aims to characterize Portuguese car drivers in terms of demographic characteristics, driving experience, and attitudes, opinions, and behaviors concerning road traffic safety. Furthermore, associations between these characteristics and self-reported involvement in a road traffic accident as a driver in the last 3 years were analyzed. A final goal was to develop a final predictive model of the risk of suffering a road traffic accident. A cross-sectional analytic study was developed, based on a convenience sample of 612 car drivers. A questionnaire was applied by trained interviewers, embracing various topics related to road safety such as driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, phone use while driving, speeding, use of advanced driver assistance systems, and the transport infrastructure and environment (European Project SARTRE 4, Portuguese version). From the 52 initial questions, 19 variables were selected through principal component analysis. Then, and in addition to the usual descriptive measures, logistic binary regression models were used in order to describe associations and to develop a predictive model of being involved in a road traffic accident. Of the 612 car drivers, 37.3% (228) reported being involved in a road traffic accident with damage or injury in the past 3 years. In this group, the majority were male, older than 65, with no children, not employed, and living in an urban area. In the multivariate model, several factors were identified: being widowed (vs. single; odds ratio [OR] = 3.478, 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 1.159-10.434); living in a suburban area (vs. a rural area; OR = 5.023, 95% CI, 2.260-11.166); having been checked for alcohol once in the last 3 years (vs. not checked; OR = 3.124, 95% CI, 2.040-4,783); and seldom drinking an energetic beverage such as coffee when tired (vs. always do; OR = 6.822, 95% CI, 2.619-17.769) all suffered a higher risk of being involved in a car accident. The results obtained with

[Prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome in professional drivers and the relationship with traffic accidents].

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Liu, Y; Tu, C L; Yao, W F; Yu, Y F; Wang, Z; Hu, J R

2016-12-27

Objective: To study the prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) and its relationship with traffic accidents in the professional drivers. Methods: Questionnaires of OSAHS were sent to 950 professional drivers who had annual physical examination at the Central Hospital of Jiading District in Shanghai from October 2014 to September 2015. Those with moderate to severe snoring and/or Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS)≥9 performed the home sleep testing. All drivers were divided into OSAHS and non-OSAHS according to the survey and monitoring. The following parameters were compared such as driving ages, neck circumference, body mass index (BMI), average night sleep time, ESS, hypertension, diabetes, hypertrophy of tonsil and the incidence of traffic accidents. The risk factors of traffic accidents were analyzed by multivariate Logistic regression. Results: Totally 826 responses were eligible, including 578 (70.0%) with self-reported snoring. There was measurement failure involving 3 of 233 the home sleep testing due to sensor off, 823 subjects were included in the study. The prevalence of OSAHS was 13.5% (111/823). The mild, moderate and severe OSAHS were 47, 38 and 26 cases respectively. There were 712 drives without OSAHS. The neck circumference[(39.8±3.8) vs (39.0±3.0) cm]and BMI[(26.7±4.2) vs (24.4±3.8) kg/m 2 ]were significantly higher in the drivers suffering from OSAHS (all P 0.05). The overall incidence of traffic accidents was 5.8% (48/823) in a year. The percentage was respectively 17.1% (19/111) in OSAHS and 4.1% (29/712) in non-OSAHS ( P traffic accidents.

Skills of novices early trained or traditionaly trained versus experienced drivers confronted to simulated urban accidents' scenarios.

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Berthelon, Catherine; Damm, Loïc

2012-01-01

In order to prevent the over-representation of young drivers in car crashes, France instated an early driver training from the age of 16, but the positive effects of this opportunity have not yet been proven. Three groups of male drivers (12 subjects each) were confronted with some prototypical accident scenarios introduced in a simulated urban circuit. The first and second groups were composed of young drivers having less than one month of driving licence; twelve have had a traditional learning course, and twelve had followed, in addition to the initial course, an early driver training under the supervision of an adult. The third group was composed of experienced drivers. Strategies of the three groups were analyzed through their response time, speed and maneuvers. No difference appeared across groups regarding obstacle detection. But traditionally-trained drivers' position control was more conservative than the two others groups, which were more likely to involve efficient evasive action. The exposure gained during early training could thus increase the development of visuo-motor coordination and involve better skills in case of difficult situations. Others accidents' scenarios could be used to confront young drivers with difficult situations not commonly encountered in natural driving.

Comparison of the effects of two legal blood alcohol limits: the presence of alcohol in traffic accidents according to category of driver in Izmir, Turkey.

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Karakus, Akan; İdiz, Nuri; Dalgiç, Mustafa; Uluçay, Tarik; Sincar, Yasemin

2015-01-01

Under existing Turkish road traffic law, there are 2 different blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limits allowed for drivers in 2013: zero blood alcohol and ≤0.50 g/L. All public transport, taxi, commercial, and official vehicle drivers must maintain a zero blood alcohol concentration while driving. Private vehicle drivers must maintain a BAC of 0.50 g/L or lower. The aim of the recent study was to evaluate the effect of these 2 legal blood alcohol limits on nonfatal traffic accidents that occurred due to the driver being under the influence of alcohol. This retrospective study was performed to evaluate the blood alcohol concentration of 224 drivers in nonfatal road accidents between June 2010 and July 2011 using headspace gas chromatography at the Izmir Forensic Medicine Group Presidency, Turkey. All cases evaluated by the toxicology department were entered into a database. We used descriptive statistics, χ(2) test, and independent sampling test to analyze the data. The total number of drivers involved in nonfatal traffic accidents was 224; 191 were private vehicle drivers and 33 were public transport, taxi, commercial, and official vehicle drivers. In the present study, alcohol was detected in the blood of about 27.2% (n = 61) of the 224 drivers. Sixty (31.4%) private vehicle drivers involved in nonfatal traffic accidents tested positive for alcohol. BAC values were also above the legal limit (0.50 g/L) in 27.7% (n = 53) of private vehicle drivers. However, the BAC was above the legal limit in only 3% (n = 1) of public transport, commercial, and official vehicle drivers involved in nonfatal traffic accidents. These results showed that private vehicle drivers subject to a BAC limit of ≤0.50 g/L were significantly associated with an increased risk of nonfatal accident involvement than drivers subject to a zero BAC limit (odds ratio [OR] = 12.29, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.64-92.22; Fisher's exact test, P accidents in Turkey.

Occupational accidents among ambulance drivers in the emergency relief.

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Takeda, Elisabete; do Carmo Cruz Robazzi, Maria Lúcia

2007-01-01

We analyzed the occurrence of occupational accidents (OA) among ambulance drivers in Emergency Relief (ER), with a view to disclosing the types of events and their causes. A quantitative-qualitative study was carried out through the interview of 22 workers in a city in São Paulo, Brazil. The subjects were male, between 36 and 40 years old (40.9%), married (81.82%), with uncompleted primary education (40.9%), individual (90.9%) and family (54.55%) income between two and four Brazilian minimum wages, not performing any other paid occupation (45.45%). The majority of the OA were typical, due to an excess of exercises and vigorous and repeated movements (42.11%) and aggression through body strength and other means (26.33%). The OA occurs mainly because drivers carry out tasks that do not suit their professional formation.

Prevalence of alcohol and drugs among car and van drivers killed in road accidents in Norway: an overview from 2001 to 2010.

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Christophersen, Asbjørg S; Gjerde, Hallvard

2014-01-01

To examine the prevalence of alcohol and drugs in blood samples collected from car and van drivers killed in traffic accidents in Norway during the time period from 2001 to 2010. Blood samples (n = 676, 63% of all killed drivers) were analyzed for alcohol, psychoactive medications, and illicit drugs. The cutoff limits for positive results were set according to the new legislative limits under the Norwegian Road Traffic Act. The results were assessed in relation to sex and age, time of day and day of week, and single- versus multiple-vehicle and all investigated vehicle accidents. Alcohol or one or more drugs was detected in samples from 40.2 percent of all investigated drivers, with 28.7 percent showing blood concentrations of at least 5 times the legislative limits. For the investigated female drivers, the total prevalence was 24.0 percent. Among the single-vehicle accidents, alcohol or drugs was found in 63.8 percent of the cases, with 49.1 percent showing blood concentrations of at least 5 times the legislative limits. Alcohol was detected in 25.3 and 49.1 percent of samples from all investigated drivers and among drivers killed in single-vehicle accidents, respectively. Psychoactive medications were found in 14.4 and 17.7 percent and illicit drugs in 14.1 and 19.2 percent, respectively. The most commonly detected group of medications was benzodiazepines, and amphetamines and tetrahydrocannabinol were the most commonly detected illicit drugs. The prevalence of alcohol alone was highest among drivers under the age of 25, and the combination of alcohol with other drugs was highest among drivers under the age of 35. Drivers between the ages of 25 and 54 showed the highest prevalence of medications and/or illicit drugs without the presence of alcohol. The highest prevalence of alcohol or drugs was found among drivers killed in single-vehicle accidents on weeknights (83.8%) and on weekend nights (89.3%). The findings confirm that a large number of fatally injured

Substance use among Iranian drivers involved in fatal road accidents

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Shervin eAssari

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Background: Although the problem of substance use among drivers is not limited to a special part of the world, most published epidemiological reports on this topic is from industrial world.Aim: To determine drug use among Iranian adults who were imprisoned for vehicle accidents with fatality. Methods: This study enrolled 51 Iranian adults who were imprisoned for vehicle accidents with fatality. This sample came from a national survey of prisoners. Data was collected at entry to prisons during the last 4 months of 2008 in 7 prisons in different parts of the country. Self reported drug use was registered. Commercial substance use screening tests were also done. Results: Drug test was positive for opioids, cannabis and both in 37.3%, 2.0% and 13.7%, respectively. 29.4% tested positive for benzodiazepines. Using test introduced 23.5% of our sample as drug users, who had declined to report any drug use. Conclusion: Opioids are the most used illicit drug in the case of vehicle accidents with fatality, however, 20% of users do not declare their use. This high rate of drug use in vehicle accidents with fatality reflects the importance of drug use control as a part of injury prevention in Iran. There might be a need for drug screening after severe car accidents.

Examining the nonparametric effect of drivers' age in rear-end accidents through an additive logistic regression model.

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Ma, Lu; Yan, Xuedong

2014-06-01

This study seeks to inspect the nonparametric characteristics connecting the age of the driver to the relative risk of being an at-fault vehicle, in order to discover a more precise and smooth pattern of age impact, which has commonly been neglected in past studies. Records of drivers in two-vehicle rear-end collisions are selected from the general estimates system (GES) 2011 dataset. These extracted observations in fact constitute inherently matched driver pairs under certain matching variables including weather conditions, pavement conditions and road geometry design characteristics that are shared by pairs of drivers in rear-end accidents. The introduced data structure is able to guarantee that the variance of the response variable will not depend on the matching variables and hence provides a high power of statistical modeling. The estimation results exhibit a smooth cubic spline function for examining the nonlinear relationship between the age of the driver and the log odds of being at fault in a rear-end accident. The results are presented with respect to the main effect of age, the interaction effect between age and sex, and the effects of age under different scenarios of pre-crash actions by the leading vehicle. Compared to the conventional specification in which age is categorized into several predefined groups, the proposed method is more flexible and able to produce quantitatively explicit results. First, it confirms the U-shaped pattern of the age effect, and further shows that the risks of young and old drivers change rapidly with age. Second, the interaction effects between age and sex show that female and male drivers behave differently in rear-end accidents. Third, it is found that the pattern of age impact varies according to the type of pre-crash actions exhibited by the leading vehicle. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Risky driving behaviors for road traffic accident among drivers in Mekele city, Northern Ethiopia

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Hassen Abrahim

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Due to its perception as a disease of development, road traffic accident and related injuries tend to be under recognized as a major health problem in developing countries. However, majority of the world's fatalities on the roads occur in low income and middle income countries. Since the main cause of road traffic accident is attributed to human risky behaviors, it is important to identify significant factors for risky behaviors of drivers. Methods A quantitative cross-sectional study with a sample size of 350 drivers was conducted in April 2011. The study was conducted among Taxi, Bajaj (three tire vehicles and private owned car drivers. After proportion to size allocation for Taxi (75, Baja (103 and private owned car (172 drivers, we used systematic random sampling method to identify illegible study subjects. Data was collected with face to face interview using a pretested questioner. Univariate, bivariate and multivariate analysis was done using SPSS version 16. Results The mean age of the respondents was 28.7 (SD 9.9. Majority were 339 (96.9% males. Significant number of the study subjects 233 (66.6% had risky driving behaviors. More than a quarter 100 (28.6% had less knowledge about basic traffic signs. Majority of drivers 181 (51.7% had negative attitude towards risky driving behaviors. Significant percent of them 148 (42.3% had a habit of using mobile phone while driving vehicle and 28 (9.7% had experience of driving after drinking alcohol. All the Bajaj, 97(62.6% house car and 58(37.4% taxi unfasten their seat belt while driving. Majority 303 (86.6% followed the recommended speed limit of driving. About 66 (18.9% of them had experience of punishment or warning by traffic polices in the previous 1 year and 77 (22% ever had car accident while driving. Conclusions Drivers of secondary education and with high average monthly income were more likely to have risky driving behavior. Having supportive attitude towards risky

ROAD ACCIDENT AND SAFETY STUDY IN SYLHET REGION OF BANGLADESH

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B. K. BANIK

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Roads, highways and streets are fundamental infrastructure facilities to provide the transportation for passenger travel and goods movement from one place to another in Sylhet, north–eastern division of Bangladesh with rapid growth of road vehicle, being comparatively developed economic tourist prone area faces severe road traffic accident. Such severe road accidents cause harsh safety hazards on the roads of Sylhet area. This research work presents an overview of the road traffic accident and degraded road safety situation in Sylhet zone which in particular, discusses the key road accident problem characteristics identifying the hazardous roads and spots, most responsible vehicles and related components, conditions of drivers and pedestrians, most victims of accident, effects of accident on society, safety priorities and options available in Sylhet. In this regard, a comprehensive questionnaire survey was conducted on the concerned groups of transportation and detailed accident data was collected from a popular local newspaper. Analysis of the study reveals that Dhaka- Sylhet highway is the most hazardous in road basis and Sylhet Sador thana is the most vulnerable in thana basis in Sylhet region.

The role of personality traits and driving experience in self-reported risky driving behaviors and accident risk among Chinese drivers.

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Tao, Da; Zhang, Rui; Qu, Xingda

2017-02-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the role of personality traits and driving experience in the prediction of risky driving behaviors and accident risk among Chinese population. A convenience sample of drivers (n=511; mean (SD) age=34.2 (8.8) years) completed a self-report questionnaire that was designed based on validated scales for measuring personality traits, risky driving behaviors and self-reported accident risk. Results from structural equation modeling analysis demonstrated that the data fit well with our theoretical model. While showing no direct effects on accident risk, personality traits had direct effects on risky driving behaviors, and yielded indirect effects on accident risk mediated by risky driving behaviors. Both driving experience and risky driving behaviors directly predicted accident risk and accounted for 15% of its variance. There was little gender difference in personality traits, risky driving behaviors and accident risk. The findings emphasized the importance of personality traits and driving experience in the understanding of risky driving behaviors and accident risk among Chinese drivers and provided new insight into the design of evidence-based driving education and accident prevention interventions. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Driver behavior and accident frequency in school zones: Assessing the impact of sign saturation.

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Strawderman, Lesley; Rahman, Md Mahmudur; Huang, Yunchen; Nandi, Apurba

2015-09-01

Based on the models of human information processing, if a driver observes too many of the same signs, he or she may no longer pay attention to those signs. In the case of school zones, this expected effect may lead to non-compliance to posted speeds, negatively impacting safety around nearby schools. This study aims to investigate the effect of the number of nearby school zones on driver behavior (vehicle speed and compliance) and accident frequency. As a measure of the density of school zones, this study introduced and defined a new term sign saturation and presented a methodology to calculate sign saturation for school zones. Results found a significant effect of sign saturation on vehicle speed, compliance, and accident frequency. This study also examined the speeding behavior in school zones for different time of the day and day of the week. Results found that speeding was more prevalent in the early mornings and during the weekends. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Truck drivers' traffic accidents in the State of São Paulo: prevalence and predictors.

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Oliveira, Lucio Garcia de; Almeida, Carlos Vinícius Dias de; Barroso, Lucia Pereira; Gouvea, Marcela Julio Cesar; Muñoz, Daniel Romero; Leyton, Vilma

2016-12-01

Abstract The mortality rate of traffic accidents (TA) is high in Brazil. Trucks are the second category of motor vehicles most often involved in TA. However, few studies have addressed the issue of TA among these professionals. The study aimed to estimate the prevalence of TA and their predictors in a sample of 684 truck drivers recruited in the state of São Paulo during 2012 and 2013. We requested participants to answer a research instrument on their personal and occupational data and their involvement in TA and traffic violations. A logistic regression model was developed to identify TA predictors. Almost 11% of the respondents suffered at least one TA in that timeframe. We identified the following TA predictors: having few years of experience as professional drivers (OR = 1.86; CI 95% = 1.05-3.38; p = 0.036); receiving some traffic tickets (OR = 1.91; CI 95% = 1.04-3.66; p = 0.043) and working more than 12 hours daily (OR = 1.84; CI 95% = 1.04-3.24; p = 0.034). Given those results, we suggest the development of a joint action among all the involved social stakeholders in order to negotiate truck drivers' work organization aiming at reducing behaviors that may lead to traffic accidents.

Quantifying the Influence of Social Characteristics on Accident and Injuries Risk: A Comparative Study Between Motorcyclists and Car Drivers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lyckegaard, Allan; Olesen, Morten N.; Hels, Tove

2011-01-01

In the recent years many European countries have experienced an increase in the number of fatal traffic accidents with motorcycles. Bos et al. (2008) reports an increase from 17.4% to 21.1% of the total number of fatalities on powered two-wheelers in the European traffic. Several reasons...... for this have been suggested, among the most common is the hypothesis that during the last decade or so, the typical motorcyclist has become older, and as a result of the increase in age, the loss of physical ability in driving and orientation has resulted in the increase in the number of accidents (Værø 2008....... In this analysis we establish relationships between social and demographic characteristics and the probability of being in an accident and being injured in an accident. Logistic regression was applied to both motorcyclists and car drivers with the purpose of calculating the odds ratio with the car drivers...

Reducing risky driver behaviour through the implementation of a driver risk management system

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Rose Luke

2014-11-01

Full Text Available South Africa has one of the highest incidences of road accidents in the world. Most accidents are avoidable and are caused by driver behaviour and errors. The purpose of this article was to identify the riskiest driver behaviours in commercial fleets in South Africa, to determine the business impact of such behaviour, to establish a framework for the management of risky driver behaviour and to test the framework by applying a leading commercial driver behaviour management system as a case study. The case study comprised three South African commercial fleets. Using data from these fleets, critical incident triangles were used to determine the ratio data of risky driver behaviour to near-collisions and collisions. Based on managing the riskiest driver behaviours as causes of more serious incidents and accidents, the results indicated that through the implementation of an effective driver risk management system, risky incidents were significantly reduced.

The Driver Behaviour Questionnaire as accident predictor; A methodological re-meta-analysis.

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Af Wåhlberg, A E; Barraclough, P; Freeman, J

2015-12-01

The Manchester Driver Behaviour Questionnaire (DBQ) is the most commonly used self-report tool in traffic safety research and applied settings. It has been claimed that the violation factor of this instrument predicts accident involvement, which was supported by a previous meta-analysis. However, that analysis did not test for methodological effects, or include unpublished results. The present study re-analysed studies on prediction of accident involvement from DBQ factors, including lapses, and many unpublished effects. Tests of various types of dissemination bias and common method variance were undertaken. Outlier analysis showed that some effects were probably not reliable data, but excluding them did not change the results. For correlations between violations and crashes, tendencies for published effects to be larger than unpublished ones and for effects to decrease over time were observed, but were not significant. Also, using the mean of accidents as proxy for effect indicated that studies where effects for violations are not reported have smaller effect sizes. These differences indicate dissemination bias. Studies using self-reported accidents as dependent variables had much larger effects than those using recorded accident data. Also, zero-order correlations were larger than partial correlations controlled for exposure. Similarly, violations/accidents effects were strong only when there was also a strong correlation between accidents and exposure. Overall, the true effect is probably very close to zero (rresearch. Also, validation of self-reports should be more comprehensive in the future, taking into account the possibility of common method variance. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd and National Safety Council. All rights reserved.

Occupational accidents among mototaxi drivers.

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Amorim, Camila Rego; de Araújo, Edna Maria; de Araújo, Tânia Maria; de Oliveira, Nelson Fernandes

2012-03-01

The use of motorcycles as a means of work has contributed to the increase in traffic accidents, in particular, mototaxi accidents. The aim of this study was to estimate and characterize the incidence of occupational accidents among the mototaxis registered in Feira de Santana, BA. This is a cross-sectional study with descriptive and census data. Of the 300 professionals registered at the Municipal Transportation Service, 267 professionals were interviewed through a structured questionnaire. Then, a descriptive analysis was conducted and the incidence of accidents was estimated based on the variables studied. Relative risks were calculated and statistical significance was determined using the chi-square test and Fisher's exact test, considering p accidents were observed in 10.5% of mototaxis. There were mainly minor injuries (48.7%), 27% of them requiring leaves of absence from work. There was an association between the days of work per week, fatigue in lower limbs and musculoskeletal complaints, and accidents. Knowledge of the working conditions and accidents involved in this activity can be of great importance for the adoption of traffic education policies, and to help prevent accidents by improving the working conditions and lives of these professionals.

Application of the Life Change Unit model for the prevention of accident proneness among small to medium sized industries in Korea.

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Youngsig; Hahm, Hyojoon; Yang, Sunghwan; Kim, Taegu

2008-10-01

Behavior models have provided an accident proneness concept based on life change unit (LCU) factors. This paper describes the development of a Korean Life Change Unit (KLCU) model for workers and managers in fatal accident areas, as well as an evaluation of its application. Results suggest that death of parents is the highest stress-giving factor for employees of small and medium sized industries a rational finding the viewpoint of Korean culture. The next stress-giving factors were shown to be the death of a spouse or loved ones, followed by the death of close family members, the death of close friends, changes of family members' health, unemployment, and jail terms. It turned out that these factors have a serious effect on industrial accidents and work-related diseases. The death of parents and close friends are ranked higher in the KLCU model than that of Western society. Crucial information for industrial accident prevention in real fields will be provided and the provided information will be useful for safety management programs related to accident prevention.

[Traffic accidents associated with emotional stress after divorce].

Science.gov (United States)

Cui, Li-Juan; Yi, Xu-Fu; Chen, Xiao-Gang

2009-04-01

In recent years, the traffic accidents increased gradually, especially those caused by the drivers daily emotional abnormality and in which the drivers were liable. This article reviewed the traffic accidents caused by divorced driver's emotional abnormality, illustrated the features of those accidents from the gender, age, occupation and mileage of drivers. It was considered that the major cause of those accidents was excessive drinking due to drivers' emotional stress. Suggestions about preventing the traffic accidents caused by emotional abnormality were put forward so as to make the corresponding rules and finally decrease the emotional abnormality traffic accidents.

Car drivers' perceptions of electronic stability control (ESC) systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Vadeby, Anna; Wiklund, Mats; Forward, Sonja

2011-05-01

As a way to reduce the number of car crashes different in-car safety devices are being introduced. In this paper one such application is being investigated, namely the electronic stability control system (ESC). The study used a survey method, including 2000 private car drivers (1000 driving a car with ESC and 1000 driving a car without ESC). The main objective was to investigate the effect of ESC on driver behaviour. Results show that drivers report that they drive even more carelessly when they believe that they have ESC, than when they do not. Men are more risk prone than women and young drivers more than older drivers. Using the theory of planned behaviour the results show that attitude, subjective norm and perceived control explain between 62% and 67% of driver's variation of intentions to take risks. When descriptive norm was added to the model a small but statistically significant increase was found. The study also shows that more than 35% erroneously believe that their car is equipped with an ESC system. These findings may suggest that driver behaviour could reduce the positive effect ESC has on accidents. It also shows that drivers who purchase a new car are not well informed about what kind of safety devices the car is equipped with. These findings highlight the need for more targeted information to drivers. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Driver style and driver skills – clustering drivers differing in their potential danger in traffic

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Martinussen, Laila Marianne; Møller, Mette; Prato, Carlo Giacomo

The Driver Behavior Questionnaire (DBQ) and the Driver Skill Inventory (DSI) are two of the most frequently used measures of driving style and driving skill. The motivation behind the present study was to test drivers’ insight into their own driving ability based on a combined use of the DBQ......, annual mileage and accident involvement. 3908 drivers aged 18–84 participated in the survey. The results suggested that the drivers have good insight into their own driving ability, as the driving skill level mirrored the frequency of aberrant driving behaviors. K-means cluster analysis revealed four...... distinct clusters that differed in the frequency of aberrant driving behavior and driving skills, as well as individual characteristics and driving related factors such as annual mileage, accident frequency and number of tickets and fines. Thus, two sub-groups were identified as more unsafe than the two...

Cognitive compatibility of motorcyclists and car drivers.

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, Guy H; Stanton, Neville A; Salmon, Paul M

2011-05-01

Incompatibility between different types of road user is a problem that previous research has shown to be resistant to a range of interventions. Cars and motorcycles are particularly prone to this. Insight is provided in this paper by a naturalistic method using concurrent verbal protocols and an automatic, highly reliable semantic network creation tool. The method shows how the same road situation is interpreted differently by car drivers and motorcyclists in ways congruent with wider accident rates. Analysis of the structure and content of the semantic networks reveals a greater degree of cognitive compatibility on faster roads such as motorways, but evidence of more critical incompatibilities on country roads and junctions. Both of these road types are implicated in helping to activate cognitive schema which in turn generate stereotypical behaviors unfavourable to the anticipation of motorcyclists by car drivers. The results are discussed in terms of practical measures such as road signs which warn of events behind as well as in front, cross-mode training and the concept of route driveability. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cannabis, alcohol and fatal road accidents.

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, Jean-Louis; Gadegbeku, Blandine; Wu, Dan; Viallon, Vivian; Laumon, Bernard

2017-01-01

This research aims to estimate the relative risks of responsibility for a fatal accident linked to driving under the influence of cannabis or alcohol, the prevalence of these influences among drivers and the corresponding attributable risk ratios. A secondary goal is to estimate the same items for three other groups of illicit drugs (amphetamines, cocaine and opiates), and to compare the results to a similar study carried out in France between 2001 and 2003. Police procedures for fatal accidents in Metropolitan France during 2011 were analyzed and 300 characteristics encoded to provide a database of 4,059 drivers. Information on alcohol and four groups of illicit drugs derived from tests for positivity and potential confirmation through blood analysis. The study compares drivers responsible for causing the accident, that is to say having directly contributed to its occurrence, to drivers involved in an accident for which they were not responsible, and who can be assimilated to drivers in general. The proportion of persons driving under the influence of alcohol is estimated at 2.1% (95% CI: 1.4-2.8) and under the influence of cannabis at 3.4% (2.9%-3.9%). Drivers under the influence of alcohol are 17.8 times (12.1-26.1) more likely to be responsible for a fatal accident, and the proportion of fatal accidents which would be prevented if no drivers ever exceeded the legal limit for alcohol is estimated at 27.7% (26.0%-29.4%). Drivers under the influence of cannabis multiply their risk of being responsible for causing a fatal accident by 1.65 (1.16-2.34), and the proportion of fatal accidents which would be prevented if no drivers ever drove under the influence of cannabis is estimated at 4.2% (3.7%-4.8%). An increased risk linked to opiate use has also been found to be significant, but with low prevalence, requiring caution in interpreting this finding. Other groups of narcotics have even lower prevalence, and the associated extra risks cannot be assessed. Almost a

Cannabis, alcohol and fatal road accidents.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jean-Louis Martin

Full Text Available This research aims to estimate the relative risks of responsibility for a fatal accident linked to driving under the influence of cannabis or alcohol, the prevalence of these influences among drivers and the corresponding attributable risk ratios. A secondary goal is to estimate the same items for three other groups of illicit drugs (amphetamines, cocaine and opiates, and to compare the results to a similar study carried out in France between 2001 and 2003.Police procedures for fatal accidents in Metropolitan France during 2011 were analyzed and 300 characteristics encoded to provide a database of 4,059 drivers. Information on alcohol and four groups of illicit drugs derived from tests for positivity and potential confirmation through blood analysis. The study compares drivers responsible for causing the accident, that is to say having directly contributed to its occurrence, to drivers involved in an accident for which they were not responsible, and who can be assimilated to drivers in general.The proportion of persons driving under the influence of alcohol is estimated at 2.1% (95% CI: 1.4-2.8 and under the influence of cannabis at 3.4% (2.9%-3.9%. Drivers under the influence of alcohol are 17.8 times (12.1-26.1 more likely to be responsible for a fatal accident, and the proportion of fatal accidents which would be prevented if no drivers ever exceeded the legal limit for alcohol is estimated at 27.7% (26.0%-29.4%. Drivers under the influence of cannabis multiply their risk of being responsible for causing a fatal accident by 1.65 (1.16-2.34, and the proportion of fatal accidents which would be prevented if no drivers ever drove under the influence of cannabis is estimated at 4.2% (3.7%-4.8%. An increased risk linked to opiate use has also been found to be significant, but with low prevalence, requiring caution in interpreting this finding. Other groups of narcotics have even lower prevalence, and the associated extra risks cannot be assessed

Research on driver fatigue detection

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Ting; Chen, Zhong; Ouyang, Chao

2018-03-01

Driver fatigue is one of the main causes of frequent traffic accidents. In this case, driver fatigue detection system has very important significance in avoiding traffic accidents. This paper presents a real-time method based on fusion of multiple facial features, including eye closure, yawn and head movement. The eye state is classified as being open or closed by a linear SVM classifier trained using HOG features of the detected eye. The mouth state is determined according to the width-height ratio of the mouth. The head movement is detected by head pitch angle calculated by facial landmark. The driver's fatigue state can be reasoned by the model trained by above features. According to experimental results, drive fatigue detection obtains an excellent performance. It indicates that the developed method is valuable for the application of avoiding traffic accidents caused by driver's fatigue.

Cansancio y somnolencia en conductores de ómnibus y accidentes de carretera en el Perú: estudio cuantitativo Tiredness and sleepiness in bus drivers and road accidents in Peru: a quantitative study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jorge Rey de Castro

2004-07-01

Full Text Available OBJETIVO: Evaluar la relación del cansancio y la somnolencia en los conductores de ómnibus con los accidentes de carretera. La información obtenida de diversos países atribuye a la somnolencia del conductor una parte importante en la génesis de los accidentes de carretera. No obstante, la información al respecto es escasa en el caso del Perú. MÉTODOS: Se realizó un estudio transversal, de índole observacional y comparativa, basado en una encuesta prevalidada y de aplicación supervisada, entre 238 conductores de ómnibus que circulan por la carretera Panamericana Norte del Perú. Para determinar la relación entre variables se emplearon la prueba de ji al cuadrado y el índice de Pearson, con un valor de significación de P OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the relationship that tiredness and sleepiness in bus drivers have to road accidents in Peru. Information from various countries indicates that driver sleepiness plays an important role in road accidents. However, there is only limited information on this subject in Peru. METHODS: Using a supervised, pretested survey, a cross-sectional observational and comparative study was carried out with 238 bus drivers who drive on the Northern Pan American Highway of Peru. To determine the relationship between variables the chi-square test was used, along with the Pearson correlation coefficient. The level of significance was set at P < 0.05. The variables analyzed were: tiredness, sleepiness, hours of driving per day, daily hours of sleep, body mass index, snoring, sleep apnea, and either having had or almost having had an accident while driving. RESULTS: Of the 238 drivers, all of them were men, 45% said they had had or nearly had had an accident while driving, 55% slept less than 6 hours per day, 31% had slept less than 6 hours in the 24 hours before answering the survey, and 80% were in the habit of driving more than 5 hours without stopping. Of the drivers, 56% of them reported being tired at least

Geometric and Road Environmental Effects against Total Number of Traffic Accidents in Kendari

Science.gov (United States)

Kurdin, M. Akbar; Welendo, La; Annisa, Nur

2017-05-01

From the large number of traffic accidents that occurred, the carrying of Kendari as the biggest contributor to accidents in the Southeast. The number of accidents in Kendari row since 2011 was recorded at 18 accidents due to the influence of geometric road, in 2012 registered at 13 accident and in 2013 amounted to 6 accidents, with accident data because of the influence Geometric recorded for 3 consecutive years the biggest contributor to accidents because of the influence of geometric is Abeli districts. This study aimed to determine the road which common point of accident-prone (Black spot) in Kecamatan Abeli as accident-prone areas in Kendari, analyze the influence of geometric and road environment against accidents on roads in Kecamatan Abeli, provide alternative treatment based on the causes of accidents on the location of the accident-prone points (blackspot) to reduce the rate of traffic accidents. From the results of a study of 6 curve the accident-prone locations, that the curve I, II, and VI is the “Black Spot” influenced by the amount and condition of traffic accidents, while at the curve II, a traffic accident that occurred also be caused by unsafe geometric where the type of geometric should be changed from Spiral-Spiral type to Spiral-Circle-Spiral type. This indicates geometric effect on the number of accidents.

Accident reconstruction to analyze impact of injured drivers during the collision. Ankle fracture in the car-to-car offset frontal collision; Join no jusho jokyo ni kansuru jiko saigen. Joyosha doshi no offset zenmen shototsuji no ashi kansetsu kossetsu

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sakurai, M [Japan Automobile Research Institute Inc., Tsukuba (Japan)

1997-10-01

An accident reconstruction test of car-to-car crash was conducted in order to analyze the impact on the driver in the offset head-on collision. The ankle fracture of the driver resulting from the accident was examined with the test results and the accident data. The test results of the car-to-car crashes indicated that the belted driver`s ankle would have fractured in the early stage of the crash. The detailed information from the accident data, especially the cars` interior deformation and the driver`s X-ray photographs, was also very important in analyzing injury mechanisms of the ankle/foot region. The above results suggested an injury mechanism that the ankle joint fracture was due to dorsiflexion and valgus resulting from the impact and intrusion of the toeboard in the early stage of the crash. 12 refs., 11 figs.

ASSESSING ACCIDENT HOTSPOTS BY USING VOLUNTEERED GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Golnoosh

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Due to the ever-increasing number of vehicles, transportation issues, especially transportation safety have gained great importance. One of the social problems in the world, and particularly in developing countries, which each year imposes great casualties, and economic, social and cultural costs on society, is traffic accidents. Traffic accidents cause waste of time and assets and loss of human resources in society, therefore studies and measures to reduce accidents and damage caused by them, particularly in recent decades, has become important. One of the suggested ways to deal with the problem of car accidents is the modeling of accident-prone points, as by identifying these points, factors affecting accidents can be identified, and elimination of these factors leads to a reduction in accidents. Numerous studies have been conducted in this respect, using official police data to identify these points and performing necessary analysis on them. Official data has gaps and shortcomings. Using Volunteered Geographic Information to determine accident-prone venues can be a suitable answer to the problems of using official data. The aim of this study is the use of volunteered geographic information in relation to the accidents and their causes. By taking into account factors affecting traffic accidents in the study area, and determining the importance of each factor, as well as the severity-of-accidents parameter, and using the Expert Choice software, a decision-making software based on the hierarchical analysis, high-risk venues are determined, and the accident-prone points of the study area are specified.

Assisting Driver Sovereignty : A Fail-Safe Design Approach to Driver Distraction

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van Gijssel, A.

2013-01-01

This thesis investigates the potential of a fail-safe approach to driver distraction through novel interface concepts for integrated Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS). Traffic accidents are a negative side effect of the universal and economical desire for mobility. The year 2009 saw the

Driving fatigue in professional drivers: a survey of truck and taxi drivers.

Science.gov (United States)

Meng, Fanxing; Li, Shuling; Cao, Lingzhi; Li, Musen; Peng, Qijia; Wang, Chunhui; Zhang, Wei

2015-01-01

Fatigue among truck drivers has been studied extensively; however, less is known regarding the fatigue experience of taxi drivers in heavily populated metropolitan areas. This study aimed to compare the differences and similarities between truck and taxi driver fatigue to provide implications for the fatigue management and education of professional drivers. A sample of 274 truck drivers and 286 taxi drivers in Beijing was surveyed via a questionnaire, which included items regarding work characteristics, fatigue experience, accident information, attitude toward fatigue, and methods of counteracting fatigue. Driver fatigue was prevalent among professional drivers, and it was even more serious for taxi drivers. Taxi drivers reported more frequent fatigue experiences and were involved in more accidents. Among the contributing factors to fatigue, prolonged driving time was the most important factor identified by both driver groups. Importantly, the reason for the engagement in prolonged driving was neither due to the lack of awareness concerning the serious outcome of fatigue driving nor because of their poor detection of fatigue. The most probable reason was the optimism bias, as a result of which these professional drivers thought that fatigue was more serious for other drivers than for themselves, and they thought that they were effective in counteracting the effect of fatigue on their driving performance. Moreover, truck drivers tended to employ methods that require stopping to counteract fatigue, whereas taxi drivers preferred methods that were simultaneous with driving. Although both driver groups considered taking a nap as one of the most effective means to address fatigue, this method was not commonly used. Interestingly, these drivers were aware that the methods they frequently used were not the most effective means to counteract fatigue. This study provides knowledge on truck and taxi drivers' characteristics in fatigue experience, fatigue attitude, and

Emotional reactivity: Beware its involvement in traffic accidents.

Science.gov (United States)

M'bailara, Katia; Atzeni, Thierry; Contrand, Benjamin; Derguy, Cyrielle; Bouvard, Manuel-Pierre; Lagarde, Emmanuel; Galéra, Cédric

2018-04-01

Reducing risk attributable to traffic accidents is a public health challenge. Research into risk factors in the area is now moving towards identification of the psychological factors involved, particularly emotional states. The aim of this study was to evaluate the link between emotional reactivity and responsibility in road traffic accidents. We hypothesized that the more one's emotional reactivity is disturbed, the greater the likelihood of being responsible for a traffic accident. This case-control study was based on a sample of 955 drivers injured in a motor vehicle crash. Responsibility levels were determined with a standardized method adapted from the quantitative Robertson and Drummer crash responsibility instrument. Emotional reactivity was assessed with the MATHYS. Hierarchical cluster analysis discriminated four distinctive driver's emotional reactivity profiles: basic emotional reactivity (54%), mild emotional hyper-reactivity (29%), emotional hyper-reactivity (11%) and emotional hypo-reactivity (6%). Drivers who demonstrated emotional hypo-reactivity had a 2.3-fold greater risk of being responsible for a traffic accident than those with basic emotional reactivity. Drivers' responsibility in traffic accidents depends on their emotional status. The latter can change the ability of drivers, modifying their behavior and thus increasing their propensity to exhibit risk behavior and to cause traffic accidents. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Improvements in Symbol Sign Design To Aid Older Drivers

Science.gov (United States)

1995-08-01

Studies have shown that older drivers have higher rates of accidents, injuries, and fatalities on a per-mile-driven basis. A major cause of roadway accidents for older drivers is failure to heed traffic signs. Previous research found that older drive...

Association between road accidents and low-grade hepatic encephalopathy among Sri Lankan drivers with cirrhosis: a prospective case control study.

Science.gov (United States)

Subasinghe, S K C E; Nandamuni, Y; Ranasinghe, S; Niriella, M A; Miththinda, J K N D; Dassanayake, A; de Silva, A P; de Silva, H J

2016-06-13

Low-grade hepatic encephalopathy (LGHE) comprises minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) and grade 1 hepatic encephalopathy. LGHE has no or minimal recognizable symptoms but has mild cognitive and psychomotor deficits. Studies in Western countries have demonstrated increased road accidents (RA) among patients with MHE. Our objective was to investigate the association between Sri Lankan LGHE phenotype and RA. A prospective, case-control study was conducted in the University Medical Unit, North Colombo Teaching Hospital, Ragama Sri Lanka. Patients with cirrhosis of any aetiology, without OHE, who had been driving during previous 1 month were included. A similar number of age matched, healthy control drivers were also enrolled. Both groups were subjected to five pencil-paper based psychometric tests used to detect LGHE in cirrhotics. Self-reported RA during the previous 1 month were recorded: categorized as 'major' when resulted in hospitalization of the involved, 'minor' when there were injuries, but not serious enough for hospitalization of the involved and 'other' when limited to damages to vehicle or environment without injuries. Among 55 drivers with cirrhosis and LGHE [males, median age 53 years (range 30-60)], 7 (12.7 %) reported RA compared to 6 (10.9 %) among 55 controls [males; median age 51 years (range 30-60)]. There were no 'major' accidents in either group. 2/55 (3.6 %) cases and 2/55 (3.6 %) controls reported 'minor' accidents. There was no increased frequency of RA among Sri Lankan drivers with LGHE compared to healthy controls. This is with the limitation of the study based only on self reported RA.

Vehicle accidents related to sleep: a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Horne, J; Reyner, L

1999-05-01

Falling asleep while driving accounts for a considerable proportion of vehicle accidents under monotonous driving conditions. Many of these accidents are related to work--for example, drivers of lorries, goods vehicles, and company cars. Time of day (circadian) effects are profound, with sleepiness being particularly evident during night shift work, and driving home afterwards. Circadian factors are as important in determining driver sleepiness as is the duration of the drive, but only duration of the drive is built into legislation protecting professional drivers. Older drivers are also vulnerable to sleepiness in the mid-afternoon. Possible pathological causes of driver sleepiness are discussed, but there is little evidence that this factor contributes greatly to the accident statistics. Sleep does not occur spontaneously without warning. Drivers falling asleep are unlikely to recollect having done so, but will be aware of the precursory state of increasing sleepiness; probably reaching a state of fighting off sleep before an accident. Self awareness of sleepiness is a better method for alerting the driver than automatic sleepiness detectors in the vehicle. None of these have been proved to be reliable and most have shortcomings. Putative counter measures to sleepiness, adopted during continued driving (cold air, use of car radio) are only effective for a short time. The only safe counter measure to driver sleepiness, particularly when the driver reaches the stage of fighting sleep, is to stop driving, and--for example, take a 30 minute break encompassing a short (driving while sleepy, and driving at vulnerable times of the day.

Criteria for driver impairment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brookhuis, K.A.; De Waard, D.; Fairclough, S.H

2003-01-01

Most traffic accidents can be attributed to driver impairment, e.g. inattention, fatigue, intoxication, etc. It is now technically feasible to monitor and diagnose driver behaviour with respect to impairment with the aid of a limited number of in-vehicle sensors. However, a valid framework for the

TRENDS AND ISSUES IN SAFE DRIVER ASSISTANCE SYSTEMS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sadayuki TSUGAWA

2006-01-01

Full Text Available In recent years, ITS projects in Japan, Europe and the US have been characterized by a strong emphasis on safe driver assistance systems designed to prevent traffic accidents. As it has become clear that eradicating accidents will be impossible by means of vehicle passive safety and single-vehicle active safety efforts alone, research and development of systems for preventing accidents through road-vehicle cooperation and vehicle-vehicle cooperation have been promoted in Japan (ASV, AHS, Europe (PReVENT, SAFESPOT and the US (VII. The key to such technology is road-to-vehicle communications and inter-vehicle communications. On the other hand, a number of driver assistance systems have been brought to market, including lidar-based forward collision warnings, ACC, lane keeping support and drowsiness warnings, but their penetration rates in Japan are extremely low. Furthermore, one major challenge is that safe driver assistance systems based on road-vehicle and vehicle-vehicle cooperation are premised upon a high penetration rate. Finally, we introduce a system for improving driver acceptance of safe driver assistance systems based on driver monitoring and forward monitoring as well as cooperative driver assistance systems for elderly drivers, an issue now receiving attention in Japan.

Driver and vehicle type parameters' contribution to traffic safety in UAE

OpenAIRE

Alkheder,Sharaf A.; Sabouni,Reem; El Naggar,Hany; Sabouni,Abdul Rahim

2013-01-01

Former traffic safety studies showed clearly that driver or human factor is a major contributor to road accidents. Hence, to better understand the traffic accident nature it's so vital to analyze all characteristics related to drivers involved in these accidents. This article focuses on this aspect through using a dataset representing UAE traffic accidents in the time interval between 2007 and 2010. A major focus was given in this article to analyzing the relation between traffic accidents an...

[The ability of drivers to give first aid--testing by questionnaire].

Science.gov (United States)

Goniewicz, M

1998-01-01

Road accidents have become a serious social problem. The scale and complexity of this problem shows clearly that there is a necessity to improve citizens' ability to give first aid which is especially essential in the case of drivers. Thus special training how to give first aid at the accident place seems to be of the primary importance. The objective of this paper is to: 1) identify to what extent the drivers of motor vehicles are prepared to provide first aid for casualties of the road accidents, 2) evaluate the training system of teaching motorists how to give first aid before professional help arrives, 3) identify drivers' views on possibilities of decreasing the number of fatal casualties of the road accidents. The questionnaire was given to 560 employees of local government institutions in the city of Lublin either professional or non-professional drivers. The direct method and anonymous questionnaire were used. The results of the questionnaire revealed clearly that very few drivers are well-prepared to give proper first aid at the accident site. No matter what sex, education or driving experience, the drivers have not got enough skills to give first aid and the effect is enhanced by various psychological barriers. The questioned drivers shared the opinion that first aid training is badly run. The drivers stressed bad quality of the training and the fact that it is impossible to acquire practical skills that may be required in the case of emergency. Drivers' views on possibilities of decreasing the number of fatal casualties of the road accidents included, among others, the following propositions: in addition to the driving licence exam first aid exam should be compulsory severe enforcement and execution of the law which regulates the mandatory first aid giving.

Bus accident severity and passenger injury: evidence from Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Prato, Carlo Giacomo; Kaplan, Sigal

2014-01-01

Purpose Bus safety is a concern not only in developing countries, but also in the U.S. and Europe. In Denmark, disentangling risk factors that are positively or negatively related to bus accident severity and injury occurrence to bus passengers can contribute to promote safety as an essential...... principle of sustainable transit and advance the vision “every accident is one too many”. Methods Bus accident data were retrieved from the national accident database for the period 2002–2011. A generalized ordered logit model allows analyzing bus accident severity and a logistic regression enables...... examining occurrence of injury to bus passengers. Results Bus accident severity is positively related to (i) the involvement of vulnerable road users, (ii) high speed limits, (iii) night hours, (iv) elderly drivers of the third party involved, and (v) bus drivers and other drivers crossing in yellow or red...

Accidents of Electrical and Mechanical Works for Public Sector Projects in Hong Kong.

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, Francis K W; Chan, Albert P C; Wong, Andy K D; Hon, Carol K H; Choi, Tracy N Y

2018-03-10

A study on electrical and mechanical (E&M) works-related accidents for public sector projects provided the opportunity to gain a better understanding of the causes of accidents by analyzing the circumstances of all E&M works accidents. The research aims to examine accidents of E&M works which happened in public sector projects. A total of 421 E&M works-related accidents in the "Public Works Programme Construction Site Safety and Environmental Statistics" (PCSES) system were extracted for analysis. Two-step cluster analysis was conducted to classify the E&M accidents into different groups. The results identified three E&M accidents groups: (1) electricians with over 15 years of experience were prone to 'fall of person from height'; (2) electricians with zero to five years of experience were prone to 'slip, trip or fall on same level'; (3) air-conditioning workers with zero to five years of experience were prone to multiple types of accidents. Practical measures were recommended for each specific cluster group to avoid recurrence of similar accidents. The accident analysis would be vital for industry practitioners to enhance the safety performance of public sector projects. This study contributes to filling the knowledge gap of how and why E&M accidents occur and promulgating preventive measures for E&M accidents which have been under researched.

Accidents of Electrical and Mechanical Works for Public Sector Projects in Hong Kong

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francis K. W. Wong

2018-03-01

Full Text Available A study on electrical and mechanical (E&M works-related accidents for public sector projects provided the opportunity to gain a better understanding of the causes of accidents by analyzing the circumstances of all E&M works accidents. The research aims to examine accidents of E&M works which happened in public sector projects. A total of 421 E&M works-related accidents in the “Public Works Programme Construction Site Safety and Environmental Statistics” (PCSES system were extracted for analysis. Two-step cluster analysis was conducted to classify the E&M accidents into different groups. The results identified three E&M accidents groups: (1 electricians with over 15 years of experience were prone to ‘fall of person from height’; (2 electricians with zero to five years of experience were prone to ‘slip, trip or fall on same level’; (3 air-conditioning workers with zero to five years of experience were prone to multiple types of accidents. Practical measures were recommended for each specific cluster group to avoid recurrence of similar accidents. The accident analysis would be vital for industry practitioners to enhance the safety performance of public sector projects. This study contributes to filling the knowledge gap of how and why E&M accidents occur and promulgating preventive measures for E&M accidents which have been under researched.

Accidents of Electrical and Mechanical Works for Public Sector Projects in Hong Kong

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, Francis K. W.; Chan, Albert P. C.; Wong, Andy K. D.; Choi, Tracy N. Y.

2018-01-01

A study on electrical and mechanical (E&M) works-related accidents for public sector projects provided the opportunity to gain a better understanding of the causes of accidents by analyzing the circumstances of all E&M works accidents. The research aims to examine accidents of E&M works which happened in public sector projects. A total of 421 E&M works-related accidents in the “Public Works Programme Construction Site Safety and Environmental Statistics” (PCSES) system were extracted for analysis. Two-step cluster analysis was conducted to classify the E&M accidents into different groups. The results identified three E&M accidents groups: (1) electricians with over 15 years of experience were prone to ‘fall of person from height’; (2) electricians with zero to five years of experience were prone to ‘slip, trip or fall on same level’; (3) air-conditioning workers with zero to five years of experience were prone to multiple types of accidents. Practical measures were recommended for each specific cluster group to avoid recurrence of similar accidents. The accident analysis would be vital for industry practitioners to enhance the safety performance of public sector projects. This study contributes to filling the knowledge gap of how and why E&M accidents occur and promulgating preventive measures for E&M accidents which have been under researched. PMID:29534429

Behavior and lifestyle characteristics of male Kuwaiti drivers.

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Hemoud, Ali M; Simmons, Rodney J; Al-Asfoor, May M

2010-08-01

The high traffic accident risk among young drivers is a well-known and well-documented fact in most countries. Lifestyle has proven to affect driving behavior as well as accident risk. This study covers the lifestyle component of the problems related to young male Kuwaiti drivers' accident risk. The purpose of the study is to measure the relationship between lifestyle and accident risk. Lifestyle is measured through a questionnaire, where 302 male Kuwaiti drivers (mean age=28 years; range 25-35 years) answer 39 questions related to behavioral and social factors, road conditions, police enforcement, and life satisfaction. They also report their involvement in accidents and traffic violations. The questionnaire's validity and reliability (Cronbach's alpha=0.7) were achieved. Principal component analysis reduced the 39 items on the questionnaire to 5 factors. Inadequate police enforcement is strongly correlated (r=0.862) to accident risk and traffic violations and is thus considered the best predictor of traffic accidents in Kuwait. As driving-related incidents (on-the-job and off-the-job) are a significant source of fatalities and lost-work-days, the study points to the importance of considering cultural factors in the design of comprehensive safety programs for industry. 2010. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Study on traffic accidents mechanism with automatic recording systems. Part 2. Application of data from ADR and DMR for practical driver education; Jidosha kiroku sochi ni yoru kotsu jiko hassei mechanism no kenkyu. 2. Jiko data kirokukei (ADR) to unko kirokukei (DMR) no untensha kyoiku eno katsuyo

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ueyama, M; Ogawa, S [National Research Inst. of Police Science, Tokyo (Japan); Chikasue, H; Muramatsu, K [Yazaki Meter Co. Ltd., Tokyo (Japan)

1997-10-01

A field trial are carried out using automatic receding system; ADR (Accident Data Recorder) and DMR (Driving Monitoring Recorder) installed on 20 commercial vehicles, in order to assess the implications for driver behavior and accidents. The data suggest that the accident mechanism can be explained in terms of situation-specific factor and behavior of drivers just before accident that is, their attitude to the handing and control of vehicles. The data might offer a new information for practical driver education. 3 refs., 9 figs., 1 tab.

When feeling bad leads to feeling good: guilt-proneness and affective organizational commitment.

Science.gov (United States)

Flynn, Francis J; Schaumberg, Rebecca L

2012-01-01

The authors posit that higher levels of guilt-proneness are associated with higher levels of affective organizational commitment. To explain this counterintuitive link, the authors suggest that a dispositional tendency to feel guilt motivates individuals to exert greater effort on their work-related tasks that, in turn, strengthens their affinity for the organization. The authors tested this idea using a laboratory study and field data from 2 samples of working adults. Individuals who are more guilt-prone reported higher levels of organizational attachment compared with less guilt-prone individuals. Furthermore, mediation analyses indicate that the link between guilt-proneness and affective commitment is driven by greater task effort. The authors discuss the implications of these findings for understanding the affective drivers of commitment in organizations.

A case of death of the driver due to environmental asphyxia by liquid nitrogen leakage in the cabin of the car during a road accident

Science.gov (United States)

Raczkowska, Zuzanna; Samojłowicz, Dorota

2013-01-01

Nitrogen causes environmental asphyxia by displacing oxygen in the air leading to death. The study presents a case of a death of a driver death who was transporting flasks with liquid nitrogen that depressurized during an accident. The mechanism and cause of death were determined based on the result of the autopsy and histopathologic examination. The authors emphasize the relevance of accident scene inspection during establishing the cause of death in similar cases.

Prevalence of alcohol and other psychoactive substances in drivers in general traffic. Part II: Country reports

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Houwing, Sjoerd; Hagenzieker, Marjan; Mathijssen, René

2011-01-01

by means of roadside surveys and the prevalence of drugs in injury accidents was estimated by means of hospital surveys of seriously injured and/or killed drivers. Accident risk estimates for drug driving were assessed by relating the prevalence of drugs among the general driving population...... to the prevalence among seriously injured and/or killed drivers, by relating medication records to accident data and by relating substance use among accidentinvolved drivers to accident culpability....

Driving Behaviors in Iran: A Descriptive Study Among Drivers of Mashhad City in 2014

Science.gov (United States)

Bazzaz, Mojtaba Mousavi; Zarifian, Ahmadreza; Emadzadeh, Maryam; Vakili, Veda

2015-01-01

Background: Driver-related behaviors are substantial causes for motor vehicle accidents. It has been estimated that about 95% of all accidents are due to driver-related dangerous behaviors and approximately 60% of accidents are directly caused by driving behaviors. The aim of this study was to assess driving behaviors and its possible related factors among drivers in Mashhad city, Iran. Method: In a cross-sectional design, a total number of 514 drivers in Mashhad, Iran Surveyed. Manchester driver behavior questionnaire with 50 questions evaluated dangerous driving behaviors in 4 categories “aggressive violations”, “ordinary violations”, “errors” and “lapses”. Results: In this study, the median age of drivers was 31. Besides, 58.2% of men mentioned having a history of driving accident. Our study indicated smoking and alcohol drinking as risk factors of having more accidents. Hookah abuse is a predictor of aggressive violations and errors. Conclusion: This is the first study to assess the relation of personal car and its market value with the likelihood of having accidents. Due to major influences of driving fines, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption and addiction on violations and errors, we recommend pivotal measures to be taken by road safety practitioners regarding driving surveillance. PMID:26153202

Latent class analysis of accident risks in usage-based insurance: Evidence from Beijing.

Science.gov (United States)

Jin, Wen; Deng, Yinglu; Jiang, Hai; Xie, Qianyan; Shen, Wei; Han, Weijian

2018-06-01

Car insurance is quickly becoming a big data industry, with usage-based insurance (UBI) poised to potentially change the business of insurance. Telematics data, which are transmitted from wireless devices in car, are widely used in UBI to obtain individual-level travel and driving characteristics. While most existing studies have introduced telematics data into car insurance pricing, the telematics-related characteristics are directly obtained from the raw data. In this study, we propose to quantify drivers' familiarity with their driving routes and develop models to quantify drivers' accident risks using the telematics data. In addition, we build a latent class model to study the heterogeneity in travel and driving styles based on the telematics data, which has not been investigated in literature. Our main results include: (1) the improvement to the model fit is statistically significant by adding telematics-related characteristics; (2) drivers' familiarity with their driving trips is critical to identify high risk drivers, and the relationship between drivers' familiarity and accident risks is non-linear; (3) the drivers can be classified into two classes, where the first class is the low risk class with 0.54% of its drivers reporting accidents, and the second class is the high risk class with 20.66% of its drivers reporting accidents; and (4) for the low risk class, drivers with high probability of reporting accidents can be identified by travel-behavior-related characteristics, while for the high risk class, they can be identified by driving-behavior-related characteristics. The driver's familiarity will affect the probability of reporting accidents for both classes. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Driver style and driver skill – Clustering sub-groups of drivers differing in their potential danger in traffic

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Martinussen, Laila Marianne; Møller, Mette; Prato, Carlo Giacomo

The Driver Behavior Questionnaire (DBQ) and the Driver Skill Inventory (DSI) are two of the most frequently used measures of self-reported driving style and driving skill. The motivation behind the present study was to test drivers’ consistency or judgment of their own self-reported driving ability...... based on a combined use of the DBQ and the DSI. Moreover, the joint use of the two instruments was applied to identify sub-groups of drivers that differ in their potential danger in traffic (as measured by frequency of aberrant driving behaviors and level of driving skills), as well as to test whether...... the sub-groups of drivers differed in characteristics such as age, gender, annual mileage and accident involvement. 3908 drivers aged 18–84 participated in the survey. The results suggested that the drivers are consistent in their reporting of driving ability, as the self-reported driving skill level...

Tarantula: Killing driver bugs before they hatch

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lawall, Julia Laetitia; Muller, Gilles; Urunuela, Richard

2005-01-01

The Linux operating system is undergoing continual evolution. Evolution in the kernel and generic driver modules often triggers the need for corresponding evolutions in specific device drivers. Such collateral evolutions are tedious, because of the large number of device drivers, and error......-prone, because of the complexity of the code modifications involved. We propose an automatic tool, Tarantula, to aid in this process. In this paper, we examine some recent evolutions in Linux and the collateral evolutions they trigger, and assess the corresponding requirements on Tarantula....

Fatal drink-driving accidents of young adult and middle-aged males--a risky driving style or risky lifestyle?

Science.gov (United States)

Laapotti, Sirkku; Keskinen, Esko

2008-01-01

A range of situational and lifestyle-related factors in drink-driving fatal accidents were studied involving young adult and middle-aged male drivers in Finland. Fatal drink-driving accidents were compared to fatal accidents in which the driver had been sober. The study included all 18-to 59-year-old male drivers' fatal car and van accidents investigated by the Road Accident Investigation Teams in Finland between 2000 and 2002 (n = 366 accidents). The variables describing the situation included the time of the accident, the road condition, the speed, possession of a valid licence, seat-belt usage, and the presence of passengers. The study found that among young adult males most of the studied situational factors bore no relation to the state of the driver (sober or drink driver). Only the time of day, seat-belt, usage, and possession of a valid licence were related to the state of the driver. Among middle-aged male drivers, drink-driving and sober driving accidents differed more clearly. Further, when the social situation in the car was examined, it was found that accidents of sober and drink drivers differed from each other within the group of middle-aged drivers but not within the group of young adult drivers. Heavy alcohol usage was found to characterize the lifestyle of the studied middle-aged drink drivers. It was concluded that for young adult males drink-driving was a part of a more general risky driving style. Among middle-aged males drink-driving was more related to a risky lifestyle with drinking problems. Possible countermeasures are discussed with regard to drink-driving among young adult and middle-aged males.

Patients' Risk of Causing Traffic Violations and Traffic Accidents while Driving.

Science.gov (United States)

Šestan, Nevenka; Dodič Fikfak, Metoda; Balantič, Zvone

2017-09-01

This study examines whether drivers suffering from epilepsy, chronic alcoholism and/or hazardous drinking, psychoactive substance abuse, other diseases of the nervous system, mental and behavioural disorders, cardiovascular diseases, severe diabetes, and severe eye diseases are at a greater risk of causing traffic accidents and traffic violations than drivers that cause accidents and violations without these diagnoses. A case control study was carried out. The cases were drivers checked by a special medical committee in the period observed suffering from the diseases listed above. Matched controls were taken from the cohort of those that caused accidents and violations during the same period observed. The descriptive statistics were followed by calculation of correlations, t-tests and χ 2 , and the odds ratio. Drivers with referrals for diseases of the nervous system are five times more likely to cause a traffic accident compared to controls (OR=5.18; 95% CI=2.59-10.34); in addition, a high risk is associated with drivers with mental and behavioural disorders (OR=3.64; 95% CI=1.91-6.94), drivers with epilepsy (OR=1.99; 95% CI=1.01-3.92), and drivers addicted to alcohol (OR=1.71; 95% CI=1.01-2.89). Drivers suffering from addiction, a disease of the nervous system, or epilepsy are more likely to cause a traffic accident, which is a contribution to the inconclusive findings of previous studies. The multiple reasons for risks of patients suffering from mental and behavioural disorders need to be further investigated. Copyright© by the National Institute of Public Health, Prague 2017

Electrodermal Activity Based Wearable Device for Drowsy Drivers

Science.gov (United States)

Malathi, D.; Dorathi Jayaseeli, JD; Madhuri, S.; Senthilkumar, K.

2018-04-01

Road safety and road accident mortality rate are a serious concern for the government. With rise in fatal road accidents, who’s leading cause is the driver being drowsy behind the wheel, measures to alleviate this problem becomes the prime task. To meet the purpose, methods adopted must be of minimum discomfort for the driver, easy to install, provide good detection accuracy and timely alert to circumvent a probable accident. A good candidate to meet these specifications is EDA. As it detects the level of sweat which directly corresponds to the mental state of the person, using EDA for the purposes of driver safety forms a good option. The novelty of this project lies in making use of EDA as a measure to detect if a person is drowsy or not. Much of the challenge lies in building a device equipped with the necessary sensors and processing the data on real-time. The novelty of this work lies in development of an embedded device interfaced with sensors and actuators to detect and alert a driver when found drowsy using sweat as a parameter.

Driver behavior at highway-railroad grade crossings : a literature review from 1990-2006

Science.gov (United States)

2008-10-01

Accidents at grade crossings continue to be the leading cause of fatalities in the railroad industry. A large proportion of these accidents are the result of driver error. The purpose of this report is to review research that addresses driver behavio...

Effectiveness of electronic stability control on single-vehicle accidents

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lyckegaard, Allan; Hels, Tove; Bernhoft, Inger Marie

2015-01-01

the injury severity categories (slight, severe, and fatal). Conclusions: In line with previous results, this study concludes that ESC reduces the risk for single-vehicle injury accidents by 31% when controlling for various confounding factors related to the driver, the car, and the accident surroundings......Objective: This study aims at evaluating the effectiveness of electronic stability control (ESC) on single-vehicle injury accidents while controlling for a number of confounders influencing the accident risk. Methods: Using police-registered injury accidents from 2004 to 2011 in Denmark with cars...... the following were significant. For the driver: Age, gender, driving experience, valid driving license, and seat belt use. For the vehicle: Year of registration, weight, and ESC. For the accident surroundings: Visibility, light, and location. Finally, for the road: Speed limit, surface, and section...

Traffic accidents: an econometric investigation

OpenAIRE

Tito Moreira; Adolfo Sachsida; Loureiro Paulo

2004-01-01

Based on a sample of drivers in Brasilia's streets, this article investigates whether distraction explains traffic accidents. A probit model is estimated to determine the predictive power of several variables on traffic accidents. The main conclusion drawn from this study is that the proxies used to measure distraction, such as the use of cell phones and cigarette smoking in a moving vehicle, are significant factors in determining traffic accidents.

Psychological influences for the driver by the changes of running circumstance; Jidosha no soko kankyo henka no driver eno shinriteki eikyo

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Okura, S; Yokomori, M; Yamaguchi, S [Meijo University, Nagoya (Japan)

1997-10-01

A driver is influenced psychologically by the cars proceeding on the street and the cars parked on the shoulder which come into the front view. The traffic accidents are caused when these influences put a lot of stress on a driver. In this report, we study the relations between the road traffic condition on the streets and the highway and the driver`s psychological and psysiological responses by using the driver`s front view, sweating and pulse rate. 6 refs., 8 figs.

Antecedents of Truck Drivers’ Job Satisfaction and Retention Proneness

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Prockl, Günter; Teller, Christoph; Kotzab, Herbert

2017-01-01

is statistically significant. Financial and nonfinancial job properties affect satisfaction with one's employer whereas the former shows a lower impact compared to the latter. Satisfaction with the job and one's employer impacts retention proneness. The contribution of this study was to (1) add...... to the understanding of the factors that predict retention of truck drivers in relationship to job satisfaction and (2) highlight the different roles of financial and nonfinancial job properties in this specific work context.......The aim of this study was to (1) explore the antecedents of truck drivers’ job satisfaction, (2) identify the impact of financial and nonfinancial job properties on satisfaction with the job and with one's employer, and (3) the drivers’ proneness to retaining their jobs. Based on the extant...

Microcontroller based driver alertness detection systems to detect drowsiness

Science.gov (United States)

Adenin, Hasibah; Zahari, Rahimi; Lim, Tiong Hoo

2018-04-01

The advancement of embedded system for detecting and preventing drowsiness in a vehicle is a major challenge for road traffic accident systems. To prevent drowsiness while driving, it is necessary to have an alert system that can detect a decline in driver concentration and send a signal to the driver. Studies have shown that traffc accidents usually occur when the driver is distracted while driving. In this paper, we have reviewed a number of detection systems to monitor the concentration of a car driver and propose a portable Driver Alertness Detection System (DADS) to determine the level of concentration of the driver based on pixelated coloration detection technique using facial recognition. A portable camera will be placed at the front visor to capture facial expression and the eye activities. We evaluate DADS using 26 participants and have achieved 100% detection rate with good lighting condition and a low detection rate at night.

[Risk factors for road traffic injury in agricultural vehicle drivers].

Science.gov (United States)

Cui, M J; Chen, Y; Li, Y; Hu, J; Zhang, X J

2017-08-20

Objective: To examine the risk factors for road traffic injury in agricultural vehicle drivers. Methods: A total of 103 drivers (who had suffered agricultural vehicle road traffic injury within the past year based on the road traffic injury registrar from the Traffic Management Bureau) who were involved in the annual agricultural vehicle inspection from December 2014 to January 2015 were randomly sampled from the Yixing Agricultural Vehicle Station as the case group for this study. Based on a 1∶2 assignment ratio and matched for sex, age, and education, a total of 206 drivers who had not suffered any agricultural vehicle road traffic injury within the past year were selected as the control group. The general information, vehicle information, driving information, driving behavior, and accident details of the agricultural vehicle drivers were analyzed. Results: The incidence rate of road traffic injury was 7.24% given the 103 agricultural vehicle drivers who had suffered agricultural vehicle road traffic injury in the past year. Univariate logistic regression analysis showed that drinking, debt, pressure, history of car accident, history of drunk driving, smoking and phone use during driving, fatigue driving, and driving with illness were the risk factors for road traffic injury in agricultural vehicle drivers ( OR =2.332, 2.429, 19.778, 5.589, 8.517, 2.125, 3.203, 10.249 and 5.639, respectively) . Multivariate logistic regression analysis also demonstrated that pressure, history of car accident, history of drunk driving, fatigue driving, and driving with illness were the risk factors for road traffic injury in agricultural vehicle drivers ( OR =12.139, 11.184, 6.729, 5.939, and 6.544, respectively) . Conclusion: Pressure, history of car accident, history of drunk driving, fatigue driving, and driving with illness are the major risk factors for road traffic injury in agricultural vehicle drivers.

Examining fire-prone forest landscapes as coupled human and natural systems

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas A. Spies; Eric M. White; Jeffrey D. Kline; A. Paige Fisher; Alan Ager; John Bailey; John Bolte; Jennifer Koch; Emily Platt; Christine S. Olsen; Derric Jacobs; Bruce Shindler; Michelle M. Steen-Adams; Roger. Hammer

2014-01-01

Fire-prone landscapes are not well studied as coupled human and natural systems (CHANS) and present many challenges for understanding and promoting adaptive behaviors and institutions. Here, we explore how heterogeneity, feedbacks, and external drivers in this type of natural hazard system can lead to complexity and can limit the development of more adaptive approaches...

The study of technological prevention method of road accident ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The study of technological prevention method of road accident related to driver and vehicle. ... road accident prevention method based on the factors studied. The study of this paper can provide forceful data analysis support for the road traffic safety related research. Keywords: road accident; accident prevention; road safety.

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome as an accident risk factor in professional drivers in Yekaterinburg. Dangerous Sleep (DS-1 study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. A. Belkin

2015-01-01

Full Text Available About 20% of all road traffic accidents may be associated with falling asleep while driving. This may be caused by sleep disorders leading to daytime sleepiness, the most common of which is obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS. Objective: to study somatic and mental health, sleep disorders, OSAS in particular, in the population of Russian drivers (Sverdlovsk Region. Patients and methods. The descriptive cohort «Dangerous Sleep» (DS-1 study of 20 professional drivers having more than 5-year driving experience was conducted at the Clinical Institute of the Brain. The mean age of the drivers was 45.8 years. They underwent somatic evaluation for cardiovascular risk factors and a psychological examination involving a risk readiness diagnostic procedure, the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory, and an electroencephalographic examination. A somnological examination assumed testing using the Epworth sleepiness scale, polysomnography, or overnight pulse metry. Results and discussion. 30% of the drivers were found to have marked attention disorders and an inability to adapt to extreme conditions, which create a risk for professional duties. The predisposing factors were noted to be alcohol addiction, overweight, and OSAS, the rate of the latter proved to be higher than that in the general population of able-bodied men. It was shown that a somnological examination should be obligatorily performed while hiring professional drivers, particularly to long hauliers. The drivers having a long length of experience, in whom a periodic examination detects sleep disorders, should be treated for somatic diseases and should also have individual working schedules to rule out their long night-time driving. 

A Study of The Relationship Between The Components of The Five-Factor Model of Personality and The Occurrence of Occupational Accidents in Industry Workers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ehsanollah Habibi

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Accidents are among the most important problems of both the developed and the developing countries. Individual factors and personality traits are the primary causes of human errors and contribute to accidents. The present study aims to investigate the relationship between the components of the five-factor model of personality and the occurrence of occupational accidents in industrial workers. The independent T-test indicated that there is a meaningful relationship between the personality traits and accident proneness. In the two groups of industry workers injured in occupational accidents and industry workers without any occupational accidents, there is a significant relationship between personality traits, neuroticism (p=0.001, openness to experience (p=0.001, extraversion (p=0.024 and conscientiousness (p=0.021. Nonetheless, concerning the personality trait of agreeableness (p = 0.09, the group of workers with accidents did not differ significantly from the workers without any accidents. The results showed that there is a direct and significant relationship between accident proneness and the personality traits of neuroticism and openness to experience. Furthermore, there is a meaningful but inverse correlation between accident proneness and the personality traits of extraversion and conscientiousness, while there was no relationship between accident proneness and the personality trait of agreeableness.

Assessing the relationship between the Driver Behavior Questionnaire and the Driver Skill Inventory: Revealing sub-groups of drivers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Martinussen, Laila Marianne; Møller, Mette; Prato, Carlo Giacomo

2014-01-01

The Driver Behavior Questionnaire and the Driver Skill Inventory are two of the most frequently used measures of self-reported driving style and driving skill. The motivation behind the present study was to identify sub-groups of drivers that potentially act dangerously in traffic (as measured...... self-reported driving skills and whether the reported skill level was reflected in the reported aberrant driving behaviors. 3908 drivers aged 18–84 participated in the survey. K-means cluster analysis revealed four distinct sub-groups that differed in driving skills and frequency of aberrant driving...... by frequency of aberrant driving behaviors and level of driving skills), as well as to test whether the sub-groups differ in characteristics such as age, gender, annual mileage and accident involvement. Furthermore, the joint analysis of the two instruments was used to test drivers’ assessment of their own...

29 CFR 782.4 - Drivers' helpers.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... interstate or foreign commerce, because, in the case of an accident or other emergency and in other respects... accidents occur, they help the driver in obtaining aid and protect the vehicle from oncoming traffic. (c) In... commerce within the meaning of the Motor Carrier Act. (Ispass v. Pyramid Motor Freight Corp., 152 F. (2d...

Driver's anger state identification by using facial expression in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Preventive safety system of vehicle is highlighted to reduce the number of traffic accidents. Driver's state adaptive driving safety system may be one of candidates of the safety system. Identifying driver's psychosomatic states is indispensable to establish those safety systems. Anger of driver state is often seen in traffic ...

New technology for accident prevention

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Byne, P. [Shiftwork Solutions, Vancouver, BC (Canada)

2006-07-01

This power point presentation examined the effects of fatigue in the workplace and presented 3 technologies designed to prevent or monitor fatigue. The relationship between mental fatigue, circadian rhythms and cognitive performance was explored. Details of vigilance related degradations in the workplace were presented, as well as data on fatigue-related accidents and a time-line of meter-reading errors. It was noted that the direct cause of the Exxon Valdez disaster was sleep deprivation. Fatigue related accidents during the Gulf War were reviewed. The effects of fatigue on workplace performance include impaired logical reasoning and decision-making; impaired vigilance and attention; slowed mental operations; loss of situational awareness; slowed reaction time; and short cuts and lapses in optional or self-paced behaviours. New technologies to prevent fatigue-related accidents include (1) the driver fatigue monitor, an infra-red camera and computer that tracks a driver's slow eye-lid closures to prevent fatigue related accidents; (2) a fatigue avoidance scheduling tool (FAST) which collects actigraphs of sleep activity; and (3) SAFTE, a sleep, activity, fatigue and effectiveness model. refs., tabs., figs.

Do aggressive driving and negative emotional driving mediate the link between impulsiveness and risky driving among young Italian drivers?

Science.gov (United States)

Smorti, Martina; Guarnieri, Silvia

2016-01-01

The present study examined the contribution of impulsiveness and aggressive and negative emotional driving to the prediction of traffic violations and accidents taking into account potential mediation effects. Three hundred and four young drivers completed self-report measures assessing impulsiveness, aggressive and negative emotional driving, driving violations, and accidents. Structural equation modeling was used to assess the direct and indirect effects of impulsiveness on violations and accidents among young drivers through aggressive and negative emotional driving. Impulsiveness only indirectly influenced drivers' violations on the road via both the behavioral and emotional states of the driver. On the contrary, impulsiveness was neither directly nor indirectly associated with traffic accidents. Therefore, impulsiveness modulates young drivers' behavioral and emotional states while driving, which in turn influences risky driving.

49 CFR 383.51 - Disqualification of drivers.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... parking violation) arising in connection with a fatal accident 60 days 60 days 120 days 120 days. (6... less than 120 days No less than 1 year. (4) The driver fails to have sufficient space to drive... driver fails to negotiate a crossing because of insufficient undercarriage clearance * * * No less than...

Mandatory Driver Training and Road Safety: The Quebec Experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Potvin, Louise; And Others

1988-01-01

1983 legislation making driver training courses mandatory for any person in Quebec seeking a first driver's license had no effect on the risk of accident or the mortality/morbidity rate for newly licensed drivers over 18. However, since 1983 more women under 18 are becoming licensed, and their risks may be increased. (Author/BJV)

Detecting Driver Drowsiness Based on Sensors: A Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kenneth Sundaraj

2012-12-01

Full Text Available In recent years, driver drowsiness has been one of the major causes of road accidents and can lead to severe physical injuries, deaths and significant economic losses. Statistics indicate the need of a reliable driver drowsiness detection system which could alert the driver before a mishap happens. Researchers have attempted to determine driver drowsiness using the following measures: (1 vehicle-based measures; (2 behavioral measures and (3 physiological measures. A detailed review on these measures will provide insight on the present systems, issues associated with them and the enhancements that need to be done to make a robust system. In this paper, we review these three measures as to the sensors used and discuss the advantages and limitations of each. The various ways through which drowsiness has been experimentally manipulated is also discussed. We conclude that by designing a hybrid drowsiness detection system that combines non-intusive physiological measures with other measures one would accurately determine the drowsiness level of a driver. A number of road accidents might then be avoided if an alert is sent to a driver that is deemed drowsy.

Discriminating Drivers through Human Factor and Behavioral Difference

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ju Seok Oh

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Since Greenwood and Woods' (1919 study in tendency of accident, many researchers have insisted that various human factors (sensation seeking, anger, anxiety are highly correlated with reckless driving and traffic accidents. Oh and Lee (2011 designed the Driving Behavior Determinants Questionnaire, a psychological tool to predict danger level of drivers and discriminate them into three groups (normal, unintentionally reckless, and intentionally reckless by their characteristics, attitude, and expected reckless behavior level. This tool's overall accuracy of discrimination was 70%. This study aimed to prove that the discrimination reflects the behavioral difference of drivers. Twenty-four young drivers were requested to react to the visual stimuli (tests for subjective speed sense, simple visual reaction time, and left turning at own risk. The results showed no differences in subjective speed sense among the driver groups, which means drivers' excessive speeding behaviors occur due to intention based on personality and attitude, not because of sensory disorders. In addition, there were no differences in simple reaction time among driver groups. However, the results of the ‘Left turning at drivers’ own risk task” revealed significant group differences. All reckless drivers showed a greater degree of dangerous left turning behaviors than the normal group did.

Optical flow and driver's kinematics analysis for state of alert sensing.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiménez-Pinto, Javier; Torres-Torriti, Miguel

2013-03-28

Road accident statistics from different countries show that a significant number of accidents occur due to driver's fatigue and lack of awareness to traffic conditions. In particular, about 60% of the accidents in which long haul truck and bus drivers are involved are attributed to drowsiness and fatigue. It is thus fundamental to improve non-invasive systems for sensing a driver's state of alert. One of the main challenges to correctly resolve the state of alert is measuring the percentage of eyelid closure over time (PERCLOS), despite the driver's head and body movements. In this paper, we propose a technique that involves optical flow and driver's kinematics analysis to improve the robustness of the driver's alert state measurement under pose changes using a single camera with near-infrared illumination. The proposed approach infers and keeps track of the driver's pose in 3D space in order to ensure that eyes can be located correctly, even after periods of partial occlusion, for example, when the driver stares away from the camera. Our experiments show the effectiveness of the approach with a correct eyes detection rate of 99.41%, on average. The results obtained with the proposed approach in an experiment involving fifteen persons under different levels of sleep deprivation also confirm the discriminability of the fatigue levels. In addition to the measurement of fatigue and drowsiness, the pose tracking capability of the proposed approach has potential applications in distraction assessment and alerting of machine operators.

Six Reasons why hours of service regulations for truck drivers are violated

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grøn, Sisse

2008-01-01

  ABSTRACT Two decades of research has established a correlation between tiredness and fatigue, and traffic accident involving truck drivers.  Regulations limiting the driving hours of truck drivers thus are necessary precautions. But compliance is a problem. The answer from authorities tend to b...... independency ideal among truck drivers. The last reason is that the drivers and their employers share an interest in long work hours.......  ABSTRACT Two decades of research has established a correlation between tiredness and fatigue, and traffic accident involving truck drivers.  Regulations limiting the driving hours of truck drivers thus are necessary precautions. But compliance is a problem. The answer from authorities tend...... is that the regulation seems to be designed to long distance driving, and has some short-comings when applied to short distance drivers. The third reason is that the regulation deprives the drivers of means to control their tiredness. The fourth reason is that the regulation limits room for planning ahead generally...

Factors associated with urban non-fatal road-accident severity.

Science.gov (United States)

Potoglou, Dimitris; Carlucci, Fabio; Cirà, Andrea; Restaino, Marialuisa

2018-02-05

This paper reports on the factors associated with non-fatal urban-road accident severity. Data on accidents were gathered from the local traffic police in the City of Palermo, one of the six most populated cities in Italy. Findings from a mixed-effects logistic-regression model suggest that accident severity increases when two young drivers are involved, road traffic conditions are light/normal and when vehicles crash on a two-way road or carriageway. Speeding is more likely to cause slight or serious injury even when compared to a vehicle moving towards the opposite direction of traffic. An accident during the summer is more likely to result in a slight or serious injury than an accident during the winter, which is in line with evidence from Southern Europe and the Middle East. Finally, the severity of non-fatal accident injuries in an urban area of Southern Europe was significantly associated with speeding, the age of the driver and seasonality.

Sudden illness while driving a vehicle--a retrospective analysis of commercial drivers in Japan.

Science.gov (United States)

Hitosugi, Masahito; Gomei, Sayaka; Okubo, Takao; Tokudome, Shogo

2012-01-01

We performed a retrospective analysis of commercial drivers to clarify the background of incidents of sudden illness while driving. The analysis used reports submitted by employers to the Japan Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism regarding commercial drivers who had been ordered to stop driving owing to health problems. Of 211 cases with an average work history of 15.2 years, there were 88 bus drivers, 70 taxi drivers, and 53 truck drivers, 36.0% of who had died as a result of their disease. Among taxi and truck drivers, more than 70% of incidents were due to cardiac, aortic, and cerebrovascular disease. More than 80% of these were unable to avoid traffic accidents caused by sudden illness. However, among bus drivers, cardiac, aortic, and cerebrovascular disease accounted for only 23.5% of incidents, and accidents were avoided in more than half of the cases. The duration between starting work and the incident time was significantly shorter among bus drivers [mean 3.3 hours, standard deviation (SD) 3.1] than taxi (7.7 hours, SD 5.8) and truck (7.2 hours, SD 6.3) drivers (Pprevent disabling events while driving. As a precaution, physicians should advise commercial drivers to stop driving as soon as they detect slight discomfort. To prevent accidents, more assertive health promotion aimed at professional drivers is needed.

Video event data recording of a taxi driver used for diagnosis of epilepsy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kotaro Sakurai

2014-01-01

Full Text Available A video event data recorder (VEDR in a motor vehicle records images before and after a traffic accident. This report describes a taxi driver whose seizures were recorded by VEDR, which was extremely useful for the diagnosis of epilepsy. The patient was a 63-year-old right-handed Japanese male taxi driver. He collided with a streetlight. Two years prior to this incident, he raced an engine for a long time while parked. The VEDR enabled confirmation that the accidents depended on an epileptic seizure and he was diagnosed with symptomatic localization-related epilepsy. The VEDR is useful not only for traffic accident evidence; it might also contribute to a driver's health care and road safety.

About Assessment Criteria of Driver's Accidental Abilities

Science.gov (United States)

Lobanova, Yuliya I.; Glushko, Kirill V.

2016-01-01

The article points at the importance of studying the human factor as a cause of accidents of drivers, especially in loosely structured traffic situations. The description of the experiment on the measurement of driver's accidental abilities is given. Under accidental ability is meant the capability to ensure the security of driving as a behavior…

The influence of age, seat belt, time of day, and type of vehicles on road accidents in Kerman, Iran.

Science.gov (United States)

Mohammadi, Ghorbanali

2009-04-01

Traffic accidents are one of the main external causes of morbidity and mortality in various parts of the world, including Kerman, a city that has experienced rapid growth in the number of cars in the last 5 years. The objective of this article was to identify the influence of age, belt use, time of day, and type of vehicle road accidents of southeastern Iran. This study used data obtained from Kerman police force reports on incidents of road traffic accidents (RTAs). We analyzed the police reports of total road accidents that occurred from 2005 to 2007. The involvement in fatal and non-fatal accidents was determined for females than among males. The analysis of the data indicated that the female drivers have a much better road safety record than male drivers, especially with regards to their involvement in severe traffic accidents. Forty-nine percent of accidents involve passenger cars, which is higher than other type of vehicles. Female drivers were found to be generally safer drivers than their male counterparts; male drivers who did not use seat belts had a higher involvement rate in road traffic accidents. Time of day analyses suggested that the problems of accidents in darkness are not a matter of visibility but a consequence of the way drivers use the roads at night. A number of recommended measures for the improvement of road safety in southeastern Iran are suggested.

The relationship between driving simulation performance and obstructive sleep apnoea risk, daytime sleepiness, obesity and road traffic accident history of commercial drivers in Turkey.

Science.gov (United States)

Demirdöğen Çetinoğlu, Ezgi; Görek Dilektaşlı, Aslı; Demir, Nefise Ateş; Özkaya, Güven; Acet, Nilüfer Aylin; Durmuş, Eda; Ursavaş, Ahmet; Karadağ, Mehmet; Ege, Ercüment

2015-09-01

Driving performance is known to be very sensitive to cognitive-psychomotor impairment. The aim of the study was to determine the relationship between obesity, risk of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), daytime sleepiness, history of road traffic accident (RTA) and performance on a driving simulator, among commercial drivers. We examined commercial vehicle drivers admitted to Psycho-Technical Assessment System (PTAS), which is a computer-aided system that includes a driving simulator test and tests assessing psychomotor-cognitive skills required for driving. Risk of OSA and daytime sleepiness were assessed by the Berlin Questionnaire and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), respectively. A total of 282 commercial vehicle drivers were consecutively enrolled. The age range was 29-76 years. Thirty drivers were at high risk of OSA. Median ESS of the group was 2 (0-20). Forty-seven percent of the subjects at high risk of OSA failed in early reaction time test, while 28% of the drivers with low risk of OSA failed (p = 0.03). The obese drivers failed the peripheral vision test when compared with non-obese drivers (p = 0.02). ESS was higher for drivers with a history of RTA when compared to those without RTA (p = 0.02). Cognitive-psychomotor functions can be impaired in obese and high risk of OSA patients. In our opinion, requiring obese and/or high risk of OSA drivers to take PTAS tests that assess driving skills and psychomotor-cognitive functions crucial to those skills would significantly improve road traffic safety, which is of considerable importance to public health.

ACCOUNT OF ROAD CONDITIONS WHILE INVESTIGATING TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS

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D. D. Selioukov

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The paper considers problems on better traffic safety at government, authority, engineering and driver activity levels, account of road conditions while investigating traffic accidents. The paper also provides road defects mentioned in forensic transport examinations of traffic accidents.

Sleep quality in long haul truck drivers: A study on Iranian national data.

Science.gov (United States)

Sadeghniiat-Haghighi, Khosro; Yazdi, Zohreh; Kazemifar, Amir-Mohammad

2016-08-01

Iran has a high rate of road traffic accidents. Poor quality of sleep brings about loss of attention, which is an important cause of road traffic accidents particularly in monotonous roads. The causes of poor quality of sleep in occupational drivers are multifactorial. The objective of the present study was to assess the prevalence of poor sleep quality among occupational drivers with rotating work schedules and analyze its different risk factors. 2200 professional long-haul truck drivers who had been referred to the Occupational Health Clinic for routine education course were invited. We obtained data from eight provinces from various parts of Iran during 2012-2013. Data were collected using a questionnaire including questions about demographic and job characteristics. Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used to assess drivers' sleep quality. Mean working (driving) time was (9.3±2.5) hours daily and (55.5 ± 18.29) hours weekly. About 23.5% of the drivers reported history of smoking, 14.5% had low job satisfaction and 60% had irregular work schedule. 16.4% of drivers had an accidents leading to injury during the past five years. The mean PSQI score was 4.2 ± 2.7; 54% had a PSQI>5 (poor quality of sleep). Multivariate logistic regression showed that smoking, job satisfaction, history of accidents, shift work and work hours per day were the most important risk factors for poor sleep quality. Results obtained from the current study showed a high prevalence of poor quality of sleep among professional drivers. It warrants more attention to this significant problem using some measures to improve working conditions in professional drivers, as well as health promotion interventions.

Road Traffic Accidents in Nigeria: A Public Health Problem

African Journals Online (AJOL)

traffic accident as an issue that needs urgent attention aimed at reducing the ... include driver behaviour, visual and auditory acuity, decision making ability and reaction speed. Drug and ... Road traffic accidents have physical, social, emotional.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms, Sleepiness and Accidental Risk in 36140 Regularly Registered Highway Drivers.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pierre Philip

Full Text Available Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD is a frequent neurodevelopmental disorder that increases accidental risk. Recent studies show that some patients with ADHD can also suffer from excessive daytime sleepiness but there are no data assessing the role of sleepiness in road safety in patients with ADHD. We conducted an epidemiological study to explore sleep complaints, inattention and driving risks among automobile drivers.From August to September 2014, 491186 regular highway users were invited to participate in an Internet survey on driving habits. 36140 drivers answered a questionnaire exploring driving risks, sleep complaints, sleepiness at the wheel, ADHD symptoms (Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale and distraction at the wheel. 1.7% of all drivers reported inattention-related driving accidents and 0.3% sleep-related driving accidents in the previous year. 1543 drivers (4.3% reported ADHD symptoms and were more likely to report accidents than drivers without ADHD symptoms (adjusted OR = 1.24, [1.03-1.51], p 15 versus 3.2% of drivers without ADHD symptoms and 20.5% reported severe sleepiness at the wheel versus 7.3%. Drivers with ADHD symptoms reported significantly more sleep-related (adjusted OR = 1.4, [1.21-1.60], p < .0001 and inattention-related (adjusted OR = 1.9, [1.71-2.14], p<0001 near misses than drivers without ADHD symptoms. The fraction of near-misses attributable to severe sleepiness at the wheel was 4.24% for drivers without ADHD symptoms versus 10,35% for drivers with ADHD symptoms.Our study shows that drivers with ADHD symptoms have more accidents and a higher level of sleepiness at the wheel than drivers without ADHD symptoms. Drivers with ADHD symptoms report more sleep-related and inattention-related near misses, thus confirming the clinical importance of exploring both attentional deficits and sleepiness at the wheel in these drivers. Road safety campaigns should be improved to better inform drivers of these accidental

Analysis of Individual and Environmental Factors for Road Traffic Accidents in Sirjan-Bandarabbas Road between 2010 and 2011, Iran

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Ghorbanali Mohammadi

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Sirjan -Bandarabbas road is one of the important commercial roads in Iran and for Sirjan’s area situation and relevance between Sirjan and other states in Iran so high percentage of goods that forwarded from Bandarabbas to other states transit from Sirjan .Therefore this road is as one important transition road and traffic road too .This study analyzed road traffic accidents were occurred between 2010 and 201in Sirjan- Bandarabbas road. Individual and demographic factors include Time of accidents, Drivers age, time of the days, seat belt and safety laws, Guilty vehicle, Mode of accident and education Level. Time of day analyses suggested that the highest percentage of road traffic injuries occurred in the time group between 12-18 hours. Drivers with the age group of 36-50 had more involvement in death accidents. The findings of this study also revealed that most of the collisions was front to back and front to side. Female drivers were found to be generally safer drivers than their male counterparts; male drivers had a higher involvement rate in road traffic accidents. This study indicated that Observe safety laws, Guilty vehicle and Mode of accidents have a meaningful relationship with Type of accidents in road traffic accidents in Sirjan Bandarabbas road.

Causes of road traffic accidents in Juba

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Akway M. Cham

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Road traffic accidents (RTAs are a major cause of death and disability in South Sudan. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether violation of traffic rules is the main cause of RTAs. Method: A cross sectional study design was used with quantitative data covering January – December 2014. The main objective of the research was to understand the epidemiology of RTAs in order to develop preventive measures. A total of 1725cases from road RTAs data were extracted from the directorate of traffic police Central Equatoria state Juba and Juba teaching hospital. Results: Most (99.5% of the RTA drivers were not under the influence of alcohol. Most accidents were caused by male drivers (99%. The highest number of RTAs took place in August (11%. Drivers of private vehicles caused most accidents (37%. Most drivers (46% were aged 20-30 years. RTAs occurred most often on city roads (89.83%. Conclusion: This leads us to conclude that a comprehensive safety system is needed that are premised on the idea of community-based awareness of traffic rules and safety regulations. Resources are limited so there is a need to harness local resources including the local community. More efforts are needed to improve road safety education among the youth/integrate safety into road design.

Isometric elbow extensors strength in supine- and prone-lying positions.

Science.gov (United States)

Abdelzaher, Ibrahim E; Ababneh, Anas F; Alzyoud, Jehad M

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to compare isometric strength of elbow extensors measured in supine- and prone-lying positions at elbow flexion angles of 45 and 90 degrees. Twenty-two male subjects under single-blind procedures participated in the study. Each subject participated in both supine-lying and prone-lying measuring protocols. Calibrated cable tensiometer was used to measure isometric strength of the right elbow extensors and a biofeedback electromyography was used to assure no substitution movements from shoulder girdle muscles. The mean values of isometric strength of elbow extensors measured from supine-lying position at elbow flexion angles of 45 and 90 degrees were 11.1  ±  4.2 kg and 13.1  ±  4.6 kg, while those measured from prone-lying position were 9.9  ±  3.6 kg and 12  ±  4.2 kg, respectively. There is statistical significant difference between the isometric strength of elbow extensors measured from supine-lying position at elbow flexion angles of 45 and 90 degrees compared to that measured from prone-lying position (p  isometric strength of elbow extensors since supine-lying starting position is better than prone-lying starting position.

[Psychosocial aspects and accidents in land transport].

Science.gov (United States)

Morales-Soto, Nelson; Alfaro-Basso, Daniel; Gálvez-Rivero, Wilfredo

2010-06-01

Road traffic accidents are a public health problem in Peru, having caused 35 596 deaths in Peru between 1998 and 2008. Lima is the most affected region, presenting 61.7% of the accidents, the annual cost reached one thousand million dollars, equivalent to a third part of the investment in health. Available studies give emphasis to the protagonists--the drivers, the pedestrians--or to equipment and roads; the laws have been modified and containment plans for accidents have been implemented, but the incidence remains the same. We raise the possibility of exploring behavioral and social factors that could be relevant in the genesis of the problem, revising those related to current disorder in transport, the behaviors of drivers and pedestrians and the permissiveness of society in general particularly of the authority. We propose research and a multidisciplinary and intersectoral intervention.

Test analysis and research on static choice reaction ability of commercial vehicle drivers

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Lingchao; Wei, Lang; Qiao, Jie; Tian, Shun; Wang, Shengchang

2017-03-01

Drivers' choice reaction ability has a certain relation with safe driving. It has important significance to research its influence on traffic safety. Firstly, the paper uses a choice reaction detector developed by research group to detect drivers' choice reaction ability of commercial vehicles, and gets 2641 effective samples. Then by using mathematical statistics method, the paper founds that average reaction time from accident group has no difference with non-accident group, and then introduces a variance rate of reaction time as a new index to replace it. The result shows that the test index choice reaction errors and variance rate of reaction time have positive correlations with accidents. Finally, according to testing results of the detector, the paper formulates a detection threshold with four levels for helping transportation companies to assess commercial vehicles drivers.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms, Sleepiness and Accidental Risk in 36140 Regularly Registered Highway Drivers.

Science.gov (United States)

Philip, Pierre; Micoulaud-Franchi, Jean-Arthur; Lagarde, Emmanuel; Taillard, Jacques; Canel, Annick; Sagaspe, Patricia; Bioulac, Stéphanie

2015-01-01

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a frequent neurodevelopmental disorder that increases accidental risk. Recent studies show that some patients with ADHD can also suffer from excessive daytime sleepiness but there are no data assessing the role of sleepiness in road safety in patients with ADHD. We conducted an epidemiological study to explore sleep complaints, inattention and driving risks among automobile drivers. From August to September 2014, 491186 regular highway users were invited to participate in an Internet survey on driving habits. 36140 drivers answered a questionnaire exploring driving risks, sleep complaints, sleepiness at the wheel, ADHD symptoms (Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale) and distraction at the wheel. 1.7% of all drivers reported inattention-related driving accidents and 0.3% sleep-related driving accidents in the previous year. 1543 drivers (4.3%) reported ADHD symptoms and were more likely to report accidents than drivers without ADHD symptoms (adjusted OR = 1.24, [1.03-1.51], p 15) versus 3.2% of drivers without ADHD symptoms and 20.5% reported severe sleepiness at the wheel versus 7.3%. Drivers with ADHD symptoms reported significantly more sleep-related (adjusted OR = 1.4, [1.21-1.60], p attentional deficits and sleepiness at the wheel in these drivers. Road safety campaigns should be improved to better inform drivers of these accidental risks.

[Hypoglycemia as a cause of traffic accidents].

Science.gov (United States)

Metter, D

1989-05-01

Hypoglycemia is the most important subsidiary effect of insulin therapy, where traffic medicine is concerned. A study has been made of 8 motor car drivers each dependent on insulin and involved in road accidents. The evidence was issued during the trial. The questions set out to prove if there was a state of hypoglycemia and if the afflicted could have foreseen this condition. In 5 cases the driving conduct before the accidents was evident in cordinatory disturbances, which resulted in sinuous driving. The accidents all happened in every-day traffic conditions, namely counter traffic (3), front-end collision (3) and through disregard of right-of-way at cross-roads (1). A further accident was conditioned by an alcoholic state while parking in a car-park. The disturbances in consciousness conditioned by hypoglycemia occurred without warning. In 3 cases the predictability (in legal terms Actio libera in causa) had to be conceded, because the drivers had set out on their routes despite warning signals or insufficient intake of nourishment beforehand.

Reducing Side-Sweep Accidents with Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communication

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Gamini Bulumulle

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Side-sweep accidents are one of the major causes of loss of life and property damage on highways. This type of accident is caused by a driver initiating a lane change while another vehicle is blocking the road in the target lane. In this article, we are trying to quantify the degree to which different implementations of vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V communication could reduce the occurrence of such accidents. We present the design of a simulator that takes into account common sources of lack of driver awareness such as blind-spots and lack of attention. Then, we study the impact of both traditional, non-technological communication means such as turning signals as well as unidirectional and bidirectional V2V communications.

Characteristics of motorcyclists involved in accidents between motorcycles and automobiles.

Science.gov (United States)

Oliveira, Amanda Lima de; Petroianu, Andy; Gonçalves, Dafne Maria Villar; Pereira, Gisele Araújo; Alberti, Luiz Ronaldo

2015-01-01

traffic accidents are one of the main causes of death and disability, with motorcyclists representing the great majority of both the victims and the perpetrators. this work studied the characteristics of motorcyclists injured in accidents involving motorcycles and automobiles. this study sought to interview 100 motorcyclists who had been injured in collisions between motorcycles and automobiles, and who were undergoing emergency hospital treatment in the region of Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The questionnaires included demographic information (age, gender, skin color, education level, profession) and questions about years of licensed driving practice, how often they would drive an automobile, how long they had had a motorcycle driver's license, how often they would ride a motorcycle, the number of prior accidents involving a car, and the number of prior accidents not involving a car. of the 100 consecutive accidents studied, 91 occurred with men and 9 with women, aged between 16 and 79 (m = 29 ± 11) years. Regarding their reason for using a motorcycle, 83% reported using it for transport, 7% for work, and 10% for leisure. Most of these accident victims had secondary or higher education (47%). Of the motorcyclists who held a car driver's license, 68.3% drove the vehicle daily or weekly and held the license for more than one year. Sixty-seven percent of the accident victims used a motorcycle daily and had a motorcycle driver's license for at least one year. among the motorcyclists injured, most were men aged 20 years or older, with complete secondary education, and experienced in driving both motorcycles and cars, indicating that recklessness while driving the motorcycle is the main cause of traffic accidents.

Assessing Chinese coach drivers' fitness to drive: The development of a toolkit based on cognition measurements.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Huarong; Mo, Xian; Wang, Ying; Liu, Ruixue; Qiu, Peiyu; Dai, Jiajun

2016-10-01

Road traffic accidents resulting in group deaths and injuries are often related to coach drivers' inappropriate operations and behaviors. Thus, the evaluation of coach drivers' fitness to drive is an important measure for improving the safety of public transportation. Previous related research focused on drivers' age and health condition. Comprehensive studies about commercial drivers' cognitive capacities are limited. This study developed a toolkit consisting of nine cognition measurements across driver perception/sensation, attention, and reaction. A total of 1413 licensed coach drivers in Jiangsu Province, China were investigated and tested. Results indicated that drivers with accident history within three years performed overwhelmingly worse (panalysis, in which the eliminated 5% tail was calculated from on integrated index. Methods to categorizing qualified, good, and excellent coach drivers and criteria for evaluating and training Chinese coach drivers' fitness to drive were also proposed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Personality, Driving Behavior and Mental Disorders Factors as Predictors of Road Traffic Accidents Based on Logistic Regression.

Science.gov (United States)

Alavi, Seyyed Salman; Mohammadi, Mohammad Reza; Souri, Hamid; Mohammadi Kalhori, Soroush; Jannatifard, Fereshteh; Sepahbodi, Ghazal

2017-01-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of variables such as personality traits, driving behavior and mental illness on road traffic accidents among the drivers with accidents and those without road crash. In this cohort study, 800 bus and truck drivers were recruited. Participants were selected among drivers who referred to Imam Sajjad Hospital (Tehran, Iran) during 2013-2015. The Manchester driving behavior questionnaire (MDBQ), big five personality test (NEO personality inventory) and semi-structured interview (schizophrenia and affective disorders scale) were used. After two years, we surveyed all accidents due to human factors that involved the recruited drivers. The data were analyzed using the SPSS software by performing the descriptive statistics, t-test, and multiple logistic regression analysis methods. P values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant. In terms of controlling the effective and demographic variables, the findings revealed significant differences between the two groups of drivers that were and were not involved in road accidents. In addition, it was found that depression and anxiety could increase the odds ratio (OR) of road accidents by 2.4- and 2.7-folds, respectively (P=0.04, P=0.004). It is noteworthy to mention that neuroticism alone can increase the odds of road accidents by 1.1-fold (P=0.009), but other personality factors did not have a significant effect on the equation. The results revealed that some mental disorders affect the incidence of road collisions. Considering the importance and sensitivity of driving behavior, it is necessary to evaluate multiple psychological factors influencing drivers before and after receiving or renewing their driver's license.

The importance of sight for drivers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alicja Pas-Wyroślak

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Sight is the basic sense for drivers. Condition of the eye determines correct, comfortable and safe performance of the work as drivers. This article presents various factors influencing the sight condition. There are two groups of factors, external (environment, the kind and time of work, stress caused by work and internal (systemic and local disorders. All these factors can reduce significantly visual functions, such as visual acuity, field of vision, color vision, strereoscopic vision, twilight vision and glare sensitivity. There are also presented actual requirements for drivers and causes of the car accidents in various age groups. Impairments in vision functions can be dangerous for both the driver and other road users. Med Pr 2013;64(3:419–425

Traffic accidents involving fatigue driving and their extent of casualties.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Guangnan; Yau, Kelvin K W; Zhang, Xun; Li, Yanyan

2016-02-01

The rapid progress of motorization has increased the number of traffic-related casualties. Although fatigue driving is a major cause of traffic accidents, the public remains not rather aware of its potential harmfulness. Fatigue driving has been termed as a "silent killer." Thus, a thorough study of traffic accidents and the risk factors associated with fatigue-related casualties is of utmost importance. In this study, we analyze traffic accident data for the period 2006-2010 in Guangdong Province, China. The study data were extracted from the traffic accident database of China's Public Security Department. A logistic regression model is used to assess the effect of driver characteristics, type of vehicles, road conditions, and environmental factors on fatigue-related traffic accident occurrence and severity. On the one hand, male drivers, trucks, driving during midnight to dawn, and morning rush hours are identified as risk factors of fatigue-related crashes but do not necessarily result in severe casualties. Driving at night without street-lights contributes to fatigue-related crashes and severe casualties. On the other hand, while factors such as less experienced drivers, unsafe vehicle status, slippery roads, driving at night with street-lights, and weekends do not have significant effect on fatigue-related crashes, yet accidents associated with these factors are likely to have severe casualties. The empirical results of the present study have important policy implications on the reduction of fatigue-related crashes as well as their severity. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Drivers of accident preparedness and safety: evidence from the RMP Rule

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kleindorfer, Paul R.; Elliott, Michael R.; Wang Yanlin; Lowe, Robert A.

2004-01-01

This paper provides an overview of recent results derived from the accident history data collected under 112(r) of the Clean Air Act Amendments (the Risk Management Program (RMP) Rule) covering the period 1994-2000, together with a preliminary assessment of the effectiveness of the RMP Rule as a form of Management System Regulation. These were undertaken at the University of Pennsylvania by a multi-disciplinary team of economists, statisticians and epidemiologists with the support of the US Environmental Protection Agency and its Office of Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response (OEPPR, formerly CEPPO). Section 112(r) of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 requires that chemical facilities in the US that had on premises more than specified quantities of toxic or flammable chemicals file a 5-year history of accidents. The initial data reported under the RMP Rule covered roughly the period from mid-1994 through mid-2000, and provided details on economic, environmental and acute health affects resulting from accidents at some 15,000 US chemical facilities for this period. This paper reviews research based on this data. The research is in the form of a retrospective cohort study that considers the statistical associations between accident frequency and accident severity at covered facilities (the outcome variables of interest) and a number of facility characteristics (the available predictor variables provided by the RMP Rule), the latter including such facility characteristics as size, hazardousness, financial characteristics of parent company-owners of the facility, regulatory programs in force at the facility, and host community characteristics for the surrounding county in which the facility was located, as captured in the 1990 Census. Among the findings reviewed are: (1) positive associations with (a measure of) facility hazardousness and accident, injury and economic costs of accidents; (2) positive (resp., negative) associations between accident

Illinois School Bus Driver Instructional Program. Trainee Guide. Revised.

Science.gov (United States)

Illinois State Board of Education, Springfield.

This trainee guide contains six units of materials for use by those studying to become school bus drivers in the State of Illinois. Covered in the units are the following topics: school bus driver role and responsibility, passenger control, first aid, driving fundamentals, accidents and emergencies, and detecting hazards. Each unit contains a…

Understanding Collateral Evolution in Linux Device Drivers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Padioleau, Yoann; Lawall, Julia Laetitia; Muller, Gilles

2006-01-01

no tools to help in this process, collateral evolution is thus time consuming and error prone.In this paper, we present a qualitative and quantitative assessment of collateral evolution in Linux device driver code. We provide a taxonomy of evolutions and collateral evolutions, and use an automated patch......-analysis tool that we have developed to measure the number of evolutions and collateral evolutions that affect device drivers between Linux versions 2.2 and 2.6. In particular, we find that from one version of Linux to the next, collateral evolutions can account for up to 35% of the lines modified in such code....

Acidentes de trabalho com mototaxistas Occupational accidents among mototaxi drivers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Camila Rego Amorim

2012-03-01

Full Text Available A utilização da motocicleta como meio de trabalho vem contribuindo para o aumento no número dos acidentes de trânsito e se constituindo em acidentes de trabalho para os mototaxistas. O objetivo deste estudo foi estimar a incidência anual de acidentes de trabalho entre mototaxistas cadastrados em Feira de Santana, BA. Trata-se de um estudo de caráter descritivo e censitário. Foram entrevistados 267 profissionais dos 300 cadastrados na Secretaria Municipal de Transporte e Trânsito - SMTT, através de questionário estruturado. Procedeu-se à análise descritiva e foram estimadas incidências anuais de acidentes de trabalho segundo as variáveis de interesse. Calcularam-se os riscos relativos e, como medida de significância estatística, utilizou-se o teste de qui-quadrado de Pearson e o teste exato de Fisher, adotando-se p The use of motorcycles as a means of work has contributed to the increase in traffic accidents, in particular, mototaxi accidents. The aim of this study was to estimate and characterize the incidence of occupational accidents among the mototaxis registered in Feira de Santana, BA. This is a cross-sectional study with descriptive and census data. Of the 300 professionals registered at the Municipal Transportation Service, 267 professionals were interviewed through a structured questionnaire. Then, a descriptive analysis was conducted and the incidence of accidents was estimated based on the variables studied. Relative risks were calculated and statistical significance was determined using the chi-square test and Fisher's exact test, considering p < 0.05. Logistic regression was used in order to perform simultaneous adjustment of variables. Occupational accidents were observed in 10.5% of mototaxis. There were mainly minor injuries (48.7%, 27% of them requiring leaves of absence from work. There was an association between the days of work per week, fatigue in lower limbs and musculoskeletal complaints, and accidents

Driving with a partially autonomous forward collision warning system: how do drivers react?

Science.gov (United States)

Muhrer, Elke; Reinprecht, Klaus; Vollrath, Mark

2012-10-01

The effects of a forward collision warning (FCW) and braking system (FCW+) were examined in a driving simulator study analyzing driving and gaze behavior and the engagement in a secondary task. In-depth accident analyses indicate that a lack of appropriate expectations for possible critical situations and visual distraction may be the major causes of rear-end crashes. Studies with FCW systems have shown that a warning alone was not enough for a driver to be able to avoid the accident. Thus,an additional braking intervention by such systems could be necessary. In a driving simulator experiment, 30 drivers took part in a car-following scenario in an urban area. It was assumed that different lead car behaviors and environmental aspects would lead to different drivers' expectations of the future traffic situation. Driving with and without FCW+ was introduced as a between-subjects factor. Driving with FCW+ resulted in significantly fewer accidents in critical situations. This result was achieved by the system's earlier reaction time as compared with that of drivers. The analysis of the gaze behavior showed that driving with the system did not lead to a stronger involvement in secondary tasks. The study supports the hypotheses about the importance of missing expectations for the occurrence of accidents. These accidents can be prevented by an FCW+ that brakes autonomously. The results indicate that an autonomous braking intervention should be implemented in FCW systems to increase the effectiveness of these assistance systems.

Aetiological factors contributing to road traffic accidents in Riyadh City, Saudi Arabia.

Science.gov (United States)

Nofal, F H; Saeed, A A; Anokute, C C

1996-10-01

The study analysed 13,390 police records of road traffic accidents (RTAs) covering a three and a half year period according to different suspected aetiological factors. The majority of the accidents were recorded for vehicles in good condition on well-paved straight roads with well-operating traffic light systems. Adverse weather conditions such as precipitation, fog and dust were of minimal importance, with most of the accidents being reported during sunny days during the rush period of 12 noon to 3 pm. Driver's error was identified as the main contributing factor in about two thirds of all RTAs mainly as reckless driving and excess speeding. About 27% of the drivers were professional drivers and 41% were in the age group 25-35 years in good health with no alcohol or drug intake. Hence, human errors may be attributed to carelessness, experience, lack of knowledge or attention, over-exhaustion or fatigue. The effects of physical stressors on performance of drivers need to be further explored and clarified but this need not underestimate the importance of vehicle and environment since most accidents are multifactoral and a slight change in them may effectively enhance perception and minimise personal error. Recommendations for remedial measures adopting an interdisciplinary approach are presented.

Substance use and social, health and safety-related factors among fatally injured drivers.

Science.gov (United States)

Karjalainen, Karoliina; Blencowe, Tom; Lillsunde, Pirjo

2012-03-01

The aim of this study was to examine different socio-demographic, health and safety-related factors, and psychoactive substance use among fatally injured drivers in road traffic accidents in Finland during 2006-2008. An accident information register maintained by the Traffic Safety Committee of Insurance Companies (VALT) of the Finnish Motor Insurers' Centre was used as basic data, and the basic data were complemented with further toxicological analytical information retrieved from autopsy reports from the Department of Forensic Medicine, Helsinki University. The data included all the drivers (n=556) who were driving a motor vehicle and who died in a road traffic accident in Finland during 2006-2008. Of all the 556 fatally injured drivers 43% (n=238) had psychoactive substance findings. 51% (n=121) of substance positive drivers had a finding for alcohol only, the rest had a finding for one or more illicit/medicinal drugs impairing driving ability, and possibly also alcohol. Fatally injured drivers with alcohol findings were significantly younger (mean age 34 years) than sober drivers (mean age 44 years) or drivers with findings for drugs (mean age 45 years). Socio-demographic background did not differ substantially among drunken/drugged and sober drivers, although drivers with alcohol findings had a slightly lower education and socioeconomic position. Previous substance abuse problems were highly prevalent among drivers with substance findings and mental or both mental and physical health problems were more common among drivers with drug findings. The non-use of safety equipment and driving at a high speed were more common among fatally injured drivers with substance findings. Substance abuse and mental health problems, as well as reckless driving behavior were more pronounced among fatally injured drivers with substance findings when compared to sober drivers. Thus, prevention and early intervention concerning substance abuse, mental health problems and DUI are

Accidents in making fireworks. Tapaturmat polttopuun teossa

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Solmio, H

1991-01-01

The accidents and the trends in the number of accidents and their causes were analyzed in a study conducted by the Forestry Department of the Work Efficiency Institute. The study was funded by the Finnish Agricultural Enterpreneurs' Pension Fund (MELA). The study material was selected from MELA's accident stage work and cause code. Altogether, the material comprised the following accidents that occurred while making and using firewood: 671 accidents in 1987 and 596 accidents in 1988. The amount of accidents caused by the working environment and hand tools was clearly higher in 1987 than in 1988. The number of accidents occurred while chopping wood was 20 % higher in 1987 than in 1988. April was the most accident-prone month both in 1987 and in 1988. Chopping of firewood was the most dangerous work stage in terms of the number of accidents. In 1988, the number of accidents in chopping firewood was 336, in sawing using circular saw 97 cases and other mechanized chopping led to 93 accidents. Heating with wood caused 33 accidents. In 1988 there were 10 (2 %) accidents involving loss of limbs and 9 of them occurred in the mechanized chopping of firewood. Nine accidents of these involved the loss of one or more fingers. Serious accidents, leading to inability to work for more than 3 months, were most frequent in chopping and in storing firewood.

A review of accidents and injuries to road transport drivers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Copsey, N.; Drupsteen, L.; Kampen, J. van; Kuijt-Evers, L.; Schmitz-Felten, E.; Verjans, M.

2010-01-01

This review presents reports of work-related road transport accidents, near misses, and other effects relating to ill health that give details concerning the causes and effects of the accidents. The main focus of the report is on road transport activities that take place on the public highway;

Alcohol-related road traffic accidents before and after the passing of the Road Traffic Safety Act in Croatia.

Science.gov (United States)

Missoni, Eduard; Bozić, Boris; Missoni, Ivan

2012-12-01

The aim of this study was to gather enough data in order to formulate theory- and research-based recommendations to policy makers with the intention of decreasing the number of alcohol-related accidents and victims on Croatian roads. The data on the injured traffic participants and the share of participants under the influence of alcohol were collected from the police reports of the Traffic Police Department, Ministry of the Interior, written at the scene of the respective accidents. This documentation was then processed by descriptive epidemiology and analysed through a four-year period, before and after the passing of the New Road Traffic Safety Act in the Republic of Croatia, on 20 August 2004. In the first six months of 2005, after the passing of the Act, there were 3,275 accidents caused by the motorists under the influence of alcohol (12.5% of all the accidents), with 64 persons killed. Only 5 fatalities (8%) were caused by the drivers with measured blood alcohol concentration of up to 0.5 per thousand. As much as 27 fatalities (42%) were caused by the drivers with measured more than 1.5 per thousand, while half of the fatalities, 32 (50%), were caused by drivers with 0.5-1.5 per thousand. In this period, more than 451,000 violations were recorded, whereas in the same period of the previous year, the number of violations was about 519,000. A reduction of the total number of accidents is the result of the new regulation provision, according to which the incidents without human victims do not have to be reported to the police. The number of traffic accidents caused by drivers under the influence of alcohol had increased by some dozen per cents, namely: 2005 - 6,219 persons, 2006- 6,590 persons, noting that in 2006 one less person was killed (123) compared to 2005. In 2005, drivers with alcohol concentration of 0-0.5 per thousand caused 1,096 accidents, with 14 fatalities, whereas in 2006 there were 1,164 accidents with 9 fatalities. A total of 2,314 accidents

Sexual behavior among truck drivers.

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Rajiv Kumar; Joshi, Hari Shankar

2012-01-01

A cross-sectional study was conducted on Lucknow highway in Bareilly district of Uttar Pradesh to study the knowledge of truck drivers about HIV transmission and prevention and to study the sexual behaviour of these drivers with reference to HIV/AIDS. Age, marital status, education, income, drinking alcohol, length of stay away from home, knowledge about transmission and prevention of HIV, and HIV-prone behavior of truck drivers were studied. Chi-square, mean, and SD were calculated. In all, 289 (97.6%) drivers had heard about HIV/AIDS. Only 242 (81.8%) were aware of HIV transmission by heterosexual route. Misconceptions such as HIV transmission by mosquito bites, living in same room, shaking hands, and sharing food were found. Out of 174 (58.8%) who visited Commercial Sex Workers (CSW), 146 (83.9%) used a condom. 38 (12.8%) visited more than 5 CSW in the last 3 months. Time away from home on the road, marital status, alcohol use, and income class were associated with visiting CSW. High-risk behavior was established in the study population. Safe sex and use of condoms need to be promoted among the truck drivers and better condom availability needs to be assured on highways.

An evidence-based review: distracted driver.

Science.gov (United States)

Llerena, Luis E; Aronow, Kathy V; Macleod, Jana; Bard, Michael; Salzman, Steven; Greene, Wendy; Haider, Adil; Schupper, Alex

2015-01-01

Cell phone use and texting are prevalent within society and have thus pervaded the driving population. This technology is a growing concern within the confines of distracted driving, as all diversions from attention to the road have been shown to increase the risk of crashes. Adolescent, inexperienced drivers, who have the greatest prevalence of texting while driving, are at a particularly higher risk of crashes because of distraction. Members of the Injury Control Violence Prevention Committee of the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma performed a PubMed search of articles related to distracted driving and cell phone use as a distractor of driving between 2000 and 2013. A total of 19 articles were found to merit inclusion as evidence in the evidence-based review. These articles provided evidence regarding the relationship between distracted driving and crashes, cell phone use contributing to automobile accidents, and/or the relationship between driver experience and automobile accidents. (Adjust methods/results sections to the number of articles that correctly corresponds to the number of references, as well as the methodology for reference inclusion.) Based on the evidence reviewed, we can recommend the following. All drivers should minimize all in-vehicle distractions while on the road. All drivers should not text or use any touch messaging system (including the use of social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter) while driving. Younger, inexperienced drivers should especially not use cell phones, texting, or any touch messaging system while driving because they pose an increased risk for death and injury caused by distractions while driving.

Safety and health of professional drivers who drive on Brazilian highways

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fernanda Veruska Narciso

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Traffic accidents and resulting injuries and deaths have become a global epidemic. In Brazil, most professional drivers, especially truck drivers, face irregular working hours and can be awake for more than 18 hours/day, which reduces their performance and alertness. In this article, we discuss the laws related to Brazilian professional drivers and their current amendments (No. 12,619/2012 and No. 13,103/2015 in relation to working hours at the wheel and rest breaks, which are vital for the quality of life of drivers and society in general. We note that the new law appears to be less efficient than the previous one as it causes insecurity and concern to the users of the transportation system, drivers, and employers. To restrict and reduce accidents, deaths, and injuries in traffic, appropriate legislation is essential, aiming at the safety of workers and users of highways. The law must also benefit the commercial aspect, strengthening the reduction in production and logistics losses. Additionally, traffic education programs are needed, as well as better supervision in relation to total working hours.

Driver feedback mobile APP

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Soriguera Marti, F.; Miralles Miquel, E.

2016-07-01

This paper faces the human factor in driving and its consequences for road safety. It presents the concepts behind the development of a smartphone app capable of evaluating drivers’ performance. The app provides feedback to the driver in terms of a grade (between 0 and 10) depending on the aggressiveness and risks taken while driving. These are computed from the cumulative probability distribution function of the jerks (i.e. the time derivative of acceleration), which are measured using the smartphones’ accelerometer. Different driving contexts (e.g. urban, freeway, congestion, etc.) are identified applying cluster analysis to the measurements, and treated independently. Using regression analysis, the aggressiveness indicator is related to the drivers' safety records and to the probability of having an accident, through the standard DBQ - Driving Behavior Questionnaire. Results from a very limited pilot test show a strong correlation between the 99th percentile of the jerk measurements and the DBQ results. A linear model is fitted. This allows quantifying the safe driving behavior only from smartphone measurements. Finally, this indicator is translated into a normalized grade and feedback to the driver. This feedback will challenge the driver to train and to improve his performance. The phone will be blocked while driving and will incorporate mechanisms to prevent bad practices, like competition in aggressive driving. The app is intended to contribute to the improvement of road safety, one of the major public health problems, by tackling the human factor which is the trigger of the vast majority of traffic accidents. Making explicit and quantifying risky behaviors is the first step towards a safer driving. (Author)

Driver support in congestion. An assessment of user needs and impacts on driver and traffic flow

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Driel, Cornelie

2007-01-01

Mobility is a key factor for modern societies. However, it also brings about problems, such as congestion, accidents and pollution. High expectations rest on in-vehicle systems to contribute to solving these problems. These so-called driver support systems use advanced information and communication

Traffic Accidents Involving Cyclists Identifying Causal Factors Using Questionnaire Survey, Traffic Accident Data, and Real-World Observation.

Science.gov (United States)

Oikawa, Shoko; Hirose, Toshiya; Aomura, Shigeru; Matsui, Yasuhiro

2016-11-01

The purpose of this study is to clarify the mechanism of traffic accidents involving cyclists. The focus is on the characteristics of cyclist accidents and scenarios, because the number of traffic accidents involving cyclists in Tokyo is the highest in Japan. First, dangerous situations in traffic incidents were investigated by collecting data from 304 cyclists in one city in Tokyo using a questionnaire survey. The survey indicated that cyclists used their bicycles generally while commuting to work or school in the morning. Second, the study investigated the characteristics of 250 accident situations involving cyclists that happened in the city using real-world bicycle accident data. The results revealed that the traffic accidents occurred at intersections of local streets, where cyclists collided most often with vehicles during commute time in the morning. Third, cyclists' behavior was observed at a local street intersection in the morning in the city using video pictures. In one hour during the morning commute period, 250 bicycles passed through the intersection. The results indicated that one of the reasons for traffic accidents involving cyclists might be the combined effect of low visibility, caused by the presence of box-like building structures close to the intersections, and the cyclists' behavior in terms of their velocity and no confirming safety. It was observed that, on average, bicycle velocity was 3.1 m/s at the initial line of an intersection. The findings from this study could be useful in developing new technologies to improve cyclist safety, such as alert devices for cyclists and vehicle drivers, wireless communication systems between cyclists and vehicle drivers, or advanced vehicles with bicycle detection and collision mitigation systems.

THE RELATION BETWEEN DRIVER BEHAVIOR AND INTELLIGENT TRANSPORT SYSTEM

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Alica Kalašová

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The main objective of Slovakia’s transport policy is to reduce the number of traffic accidents and increase safety on our roads. Implementation of intelligent transport systems presents one of the possibilities how to meet this goal. Acceptance of these systems by motor vehicle drivers and other road traffic participants is necessary in order for them to fulfill their purpose. Only if the drivers will accept intelligent transport systems, it is possible to flexibly and effectively manage road traffic flexibly and effectively. From the perspective of a driver it concerns, in particular, the possibility of using alternative routes when traffic accidents or other obstacles occurs on the route that would significantly affect the continuity and safety of road traffic. Thanks to these technologies, it is possible to choose the appropriate route while driving, of course based on the criterion, which the driver considers the most important during the transport from origin to destination (driving time, distance from origin to destination, fuel consumption, quality of infrastructure. Information isare provided to the driver through variable message signs or directly in the vehicle (RDS-TMC. Another advantage of intelligent transport systems is a positive impact on psychological well-being of the driver while driving. Additional information about the possible obstacles, weather conditions and dangerous situations that occur on the roads as well as alternative routes are provided to the driver well in advance. This paper is mainly focused on how the drivers perceive the influence of intelligent transport systems in Žilina region.

Personality, Driving Behavior and Mental Disorders Factors as Predictors of Road Traffic Accidents Based on Logistic Regression

Science.gov (United States)

Alavi, Seyyed Salman; Mohammadi, Mohammad Reza; Souri, Hamid; Mohammadi Kalhori, Soroush; Jannatifard, Fereshteh; Sepahbodi, Ghazal

2017-01-01

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of variables such as personality traits, driving behavior and mental illness on road traffic accidents among the drivers with accidents and those without road crash. Methods: In this cohort study, 800 bus and truck drivers were recruited. Participants were selected among drivers who referred to Imam Sajjad Hospital (Tehran, Iran) during 2013-2015. The Manchester driving behavior questionnaire (MDBQ), big five personality test (NEO personality inventory) and semi-structured interview (schizophrenia and affective disorders scale) were used. After two years, we surveyed all accidents due to human factors that involved the recruited drivers. The data were analyzed using the SPSS software by performing the descriptive statistics, t-test, and multiple logistic regression analysis methods. P values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results: In terms of controlling the effective and demographic variables, the findings revealed significant differences between the two groups of drivers that were and were not involved in road accidents. In addition, it was found that depression and anxiety could increase the odds ratio (OR) of road accidents by 2.4- and 2.7-folds, respectively (P=0.04, P=0.004). It is noteworthy to mention that neuroticism alone can increase the odds of road accidents by 1.1-fold (P=0.009), but other personality factors did not have a significant effect on the equation. Conclusion: The results revealed that some mental disorders affect the incidence of road collisions. Considering the importance and sensitivity of driving behavior, it is necessary to evaluate multiple psychological factors influencing drivers before and after receiving or renewing their driver’s license. PMID:28293047

Personality, Driving Behavior and Mental Disorders Factors as Predictors of Road Traffic Accidents Based on Logistic Regression

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seyyed Salman Alavi

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of variables such as personality traits, driving behavior and mental illness on road traffic accidents among the drivers with accidents and those without road crash. Methods: In this cohort study, 800 bus and truck drivers were recruited. Participants were selected among drivers who referred to Imam Sajjad Hospital (Tehran, Iran during 2013-2015. The Manchester driving behavior questionnaire (MDBQ, big five personality test (NEO personality inventory and semi-structured interview (SADS were used. After two years, we surveyed all accidents due to human factors that involved the recruited drivers. The data were analyzed using the SPSS software by performing the descriptive statistics, t-test, and multiple logistic regression analysis methods. P values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results: In terms of controlling the effective and demographic variables, the findings revealed significant differences between the two groups of drivers that were and were not involved in road accidents. In addition, it was found that depression and anxiety could increase the odds ratio (OR of road accidents by 2.4- and 2.7-folds, respectively (P=0.04, P=0.004. It is noteworthy to mention that neuroticism alone can increase the odds of road accidents by 1.1-fold (P=0.009, but other personality factors did not have a significant effect on the equation. Conclusion: The results revealed that some mental disorders affect the incidence of road collisions. Considering the importance and sensitivity of driving behavior, it is necessary to evaluate multiple psychological factors influencing drivers before and after receiving or renewing their driver’s license.

How to Train Safe Drivers: Setting Up and Evaluating a Fatigue Training Program

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adamos Giannis

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Fatigue is considered as a serious risk driving behavior, causing road accidents, which in many cases involve fatalities and severe injuries. According to CARE database statistics, professional drivers are indicated as a high-risk group to be involved in a fatigue-related accident. Acknowledging these statistics, a training program on driving fatigue was organized, aiming at raising awareness of professional drivers of a leading company in building materials, in Greece. Selected experimental methods were used for collecting data before and after the training program, which allowed monitoring and assessing the potential behavioural changes. A questionnaire survey was conducted before the program implementation to 162 drivers of the company, while two months after the program, the same drivers replied to a second questionnaire. Impact assessment of the program relied on statistical analysis of the responses. Results showed the degree of penetration of the training program in the professional drivers' behavior towards safe driving.

Drowsy Driver Detection via Steering Wheel

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Herlina ABDUL RAHIM

2010-09-01

Full Text Available The main purpose of this project is to produce a safety system especially for fatigue car driver so as to prevent from accidents. The statistic on road fatality shows that human error constitute of 64.84 % road accidents fatality and 17.4 % due to technical factors. These systems encompassed the approach of hand pressure applied on the steering wheel. The steering will be installed with pressure sensors. At the same time these sensors can be used to measure gripping force while driving.

Do alcohol excise taxes affect traffic accidents? Evidence from Estonia.

Science.gov (United States)

Saar, Indrek

2015-01-01

This article examines the association between alcohol excise tax rates and alcohol-related traffic accidents in Estonia. Monthly time series of traffic accidents involving drunken motor vehicle drivers from 1998 through 2013 were regressed on real average alcohol excise tax rates while controlling for changes in economic conditions and the traffic environment. Specifically, regression models with autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) errors were estimated in order to deal with serial correlation in residuals. Counterfactual models were also estimated in order to check the robustness of the results, using the level of non-alcohol-related traffic accidents as a dependent variable. A statistically significant (P traffic accidents was disclosed under alternative model specifications. For instance, the regression model with ARIMA (0, 1, 1)(0, 1, 1) errors revealed that a 1-unit increase in the tax rate is associated with a 1.6% decrease in the level of accidents per 100,000 population involving drunk motor vehicle drivers. No similar association was found in the cases of counterfactual models for non-alcohol-related traffic accidents. This article indicates that the level of alcohol-related traffic accidents in Estonia has been affected by changes in real average alcohol excise taxes during the period 1998-2013. Therefore, in addition to other measures, the use of alcohol taxation is warranted as a policy instrument in tackling alcohol-related traffic accidents.

Complaints of Poor Sleep and Risk of Traffic Accidents: A Population-Based Case-Control Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Philip, Pierre; Chaufton, Cyril; Orriols, Ludivine; Lagarde, Emmanuel; Amoros, Emmanuelle; Laumon, Bernard; Akerstedt, Torbjorn; Taillard, Jacques; Sagaspe, Patricia

2014-01-01

This study aimed to determine the sleepiness-related factors associated with road traffic accidents. A population based case-control study was conducted in 2 French agglomerations. 272 road accident cases hospitalized in emergency units and 272 control drivers matched by time of day and randomly stopped by police forces were included in the study. Odds ratios were calculated for the risk of road traffic accidents. As expected, the main predictive factor for road traffic accidents was having a sleep episode at the wheel just before the accident (OR 9.97, CI 95%: 1.57-63.50, ptraffic accidents was 3.35 times higher in subjects who reported very poor quality sleep during the last 3 months (CI 95%: 1.30-8.63, ptraffic accidents. Physicians should be attentive to complaints of poor sleep quality and quantity, symptoms of anxiety-nervousness and/or drug consumption in regular car drivers.

Risk factors associated with bus accident severity in the United States: A generalized ordered logit model

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kaplan, Sigal; Prato, Carlo Giacomo

2012-01-01

of 2011. Method: The current study investigates the underlying risk factors of bus accident severity in the United States by estimating a generalized ordered logit model. Data for the analysis are retrieved from the General Estimates System (GES) database for the years 2005–2009. Results: Results show...... that accident severity increases: (i) for young bus drivers under the age of 25; (ii) for drivers beyond the age of 55, and most prominently for drivers over 65 years old; (iii) for female drivers; (iv) for very high (over 65 mph) and very low (under 20 mph) speed limits; (v) at intersections; (vi) because......Introduction: Recent years have witnessed a growing interest in improving bus safety operations worldwide. While in the United States buses are considered relatively safe, the number of bus accidents is far from being negligible, triggering the introduction of the Motor-coach Enhanced Safety Act...

A review of lateral driver support systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tideman, Martijn; van der Voort, Mascha C.; van Arem, Bart; Tillema, Frans; Dailey, D.

2007-01-01

Lateral driver support systems have the potential to reduce the number of accidents associated with -both intentional and unintentional -lane departures. Additionally, such systems may increase driving comfort and stimulate a more efficient traffic flow, thereby reducing traffic emissions and the

Prevalence of Occupational Accidents/Injuries among Health Care ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

BACKGROUND: Health care workers (HCWs) are prone to occupational accidents and injuries such as needle pricks in the course of their day to day activities in the health care setting. OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of needle sticks and other occupational exposures among HCWs in a Nigerian tertiary hospital.

Written instructions for the transport of hazardous materials: Accident management instruction sheets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ridder, K.

1988-01-01

In spite of the regulations and the safety provisions taken, accidents are not entirely avoidable in the transport of hazardous materials. For managing an accident and preventing further hazards after release of dangerous substances, the vehicle drivers must carry with them the accident management instruction sheets, which give instructions on immediate counter measures to be taken by the driver, and on information to be given to the police and the fire brigades. The article in hand discusses the purpose, the contents, and practice-based improvement of this collection of instruction sheets. Particular reference is given to the newly revised version of June 15, 1988 (Verkehrsblatt 1/88) of the 'Directives for setting up accident management instruction sheets - written instructions - for road transport of hazardous materials', as issued by the Federal Ministry of Transport. (orig./HP) [de

Significance of chronic toxoplasmosis in epidemiology of road traffic accidents in Russian Federation.

Science.gov (United States)

Stepanova, Ekaterina V; Kondrashin, Anatoly V; Sergiev, Vladimir P; Morozova, Lola F; Turbabina, Natalia A; Maksimova, Maria S; Brazhnikov, Alexey I; Shevchenko, Sergei B; Morozov, Evgeny N

2017-01-01

Studies carried out in Moscow residents have revealed that the prevalence of chronic toxoplasmosis is very close to those in countries of Eastern and Central Europe. Our findings also demonstrated a statistically significant relationship between the rate of traffic accidents and the seroprevalence of chronic toxoplasmosis in drivers who were held responsible for accidents. The latter was 2.37 times higher in drivers who were involved in road accidents compared with control groups. These results suggest that the consequences of chronic toxoplasmosis (particularly a slower reaction time and decreased concentration) might contribute to the peculiarities of the epidemiology of road traffic accidents in the Russian Federation and might interfere with the successful implementation of the Federal Programme named "Increase road traffic safety". Suggestions for how to address overcome this problem are discussed in this paper.

Comparisons of Traffic Collisions between Expressways and Rural Roads in Truck Drivers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sangbok Lee

2016-03-01

Conclusion: This study can be used as a guideline and a base line to develop a plan of action to prevent traffic accidents. It can also help to prepare formal regulations about a truck driver's vehicle maintenance and driving attitude for a precaution on road accidents.

Analysis of traffic accidents in Romania, 2009.

Science.gov (United States)

Călinoiu, Geovana; Minca, Dana Galieta; Furtunescu, Florentina Ligia

2012-01-01

This paper aimed to underline the main consequences of traffic accidents in Romania 2009 and their associated causes or circumstances. We identified some problematic geographic areas, some critical months or moments of the day and also the most frequent causes; all these should become targets for the future planning. The current analysis provides some priority criteria for public health interventions. So, the future national road safety strategy should be in line with the EU objectives, but also with the national priorities. Romania is far away from the average EU target for 2010 of halving the death by traffic accidents registered in 2001. To describe the circumstances and the consequences related to traffic accidents registered in Romania, for the year 2009. An ecological study was conducted. The traffic accidents circumstances were analyzed in terms of magnitude, geographic space, time and cause. The consequences were analyzed as affected people and damaged cars. A total of 28,627 traffic accidents were registered in Romania during the year 2009. 2,796 people were killed and 27,968 were hospitalized and 42,443 cars were damaged. 3 of 4 accidents were caused by violations on behalf of the car drivers. Most common violations in car drivers were excess of speed and priority violations (52.4%). Among the pedestrians, 7 of 10 accidents were caused by illegal crossing. A higher number of accidents occurred during the summer months and during the evening hours (from 5.00 pm till 8.00 pm). The traffic accidents represent a real public health problem in Romania and a serious burden for the health system. The gap between Romania and the other EU member states needs to be diminished in the next decade. In this purpose, the future national road safety strategy should be in line with the EU objectives, but also with the national priorities. Research is needed to understand the causes and the socio-economical impact of traffic accidents and to define appropriate national

The Influence Of Personal & Psychological Factors On Prone-Ness ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

efficacy and achievement striving behaviour on prone-ness of athletes in Ogun State to abuse drugs. Descriptive survey design was adopted. A simple random sampling technique was used to select 304 participants. The age range of participants ...

How to Reduce Those Costly School Bus Accidents.

Science.gov (United States)

Farmer, Ernest

1985-01-01

The deterrent to school bus accidents is preparedness. Training programs for drivers and mechanics, equipment specifications, and a community support base are some of the ways to prevent tragedy. (MLF)

The Intention in Speeding Behavior between Low and High Intended Young Driver in Urban University

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Mohamad Ghazali Masuri,

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The number of road traffic accidents among young adult aged under 25 years old is an alarming issue in Malaysia. A five pages self-reported questionnaire was distributed to 384 young drivers' to investigate their intention in speeding while driving. Results have shown, the intention to speed among low and high intended based line group revealed a significant difference when it was compared with four types of scenario. Correct stimulation while driving could help drivers to change their intention to speed. This stimulation may be able to reduce the drivers' potential to involve with an accident and will save peoples' life.

Keep on cruising: Changes in lifestyle and driving style among male drivers between the age of 18 and 23

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Møller, Mette; Haustein, Sonja

2013-01-01

Despite recent improvements in general road safety levels, young male drivers in most western countries continue to be overrepresented in road traffic accidents. Lifestyle related motivational factors are a key element in the young male driver problem. Based on 379 posted questionnaires completed...... showed a similar life style at the age of 23. The study confirmed the importance of lifestyle related motivational factors for driving behaviour among young drivers. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.......Despite recent improvements in general road safety levels, young male drivers in most western countries continue to be overrepresented in road traffic accidents. Lifestyle related motivational factors are a key element in the young male driver problem. Based on 379 posted questionnaires completed...

The impact of personality on driving safety among Chinese high-speed railway drivers.

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Ming; Wei, Wei; Liao, Ganli; Chu, Fulei

2016-07-01

This study explored the impact of personality traits on driving safety in high-speed railway drivers. A sample of high-speed railway drivers in Beijing (N=214) completed a questionnaire, including information on personality traits and background variables. The NEO Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) was administered to characterize participants based on five personality traits: Neuroticism, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Openness to Experience, and Conscientiousness. The survey data were combined with naturalistic data of accident involvement and risky driving behavior in China. Poisson regression results show that drivers with high Conscientiousness and Extraversion caused fewer accidents. Higher Conscientiousness and lower Agreeableness were related to less frequent risky driving behavior. Education level and age negatively moderated the relation between certain personality traits and driving safety. The findings suggest that personality traits should be considered when selecting and training high-speed railway drivers. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Advanced Competencies for School Bus Drivers.

Science.gov (United States)

Illinois State Board of Education, Springfield.

Four units are provided for formal classroom instruction in advanced competencies for school bus drivers in Illinois. Units cover passenger control, accidents and emergencies, detecting hazards, and first aid. Each unit contains some or all of the following components: table of contents; a list of objectives; informative material, including an…

A GIS Approach to Evaluate Infrastructure Variables Influencing the Occurrence of Traffic Accidents in Urban Roads

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Murat Selim Çepni

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Several studies worldwide have been developed that seek to explain the occurrence of traffic accidents from different perspectives. The analyses have addressed legal perspectives, technical attributes of vehicles and infrastructure as well as the psychological, behavioral and socio-economic components of the road system users. Recently, some analysis techniques based on the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS have been used, which allow the generation of spatial distribution maps, models and risk estimates from a spatial perspective. Sometimes analyses of traffic accidents are performed using quantitative statistical techniques, which place significant importance on the evolution of accidents. Studies such as those in references have shown that conventional statistical models are sometimes inadequate to model the frequency of traffic accidents, as they may provide erroneous inferences. GIS approach has been used to explore different spatial and temporal visualization technologies to reveal accident patterns and significant factors relating to vehicle crashes, or as a management system for accident analysis and the determination of hot spots. This paper examines the relationship between urban road accidents and variables related to road infrastructure, environment and traffic volumes. Some accident-prone sections in the city of Kocaeli are specifically identified by GIS tools. Urban road accidents in Kocaeli are a serious problem and it is believed that accidents can be related to infrastructure characteristics. The study aimed to establish the relationship between urban road accidents and the road infrastructure variables and revealed some possible accident prone locations for the period of 2013 and 2015 in Kocaeli city

Causes of road traffic accidents in Juba | Cham | South Sudan ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Drivers of private vehicles caused most accidents (37%). Most drivers (46%) were aged 20-30 years. RTAs occurred most often on city roads (89.83%). Conclusion: This leads us to conclude that a comprehensive safety system is needed that are premised on the idea of community-based awareness of traffic rules and safety ...

Bus crash severity in the United-States: The role of driver behavior, service type, road factors and environmental conditions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kaplan, Sigal; Prato, Carlo Giacomo

current study investigates the underlying risk factors of bus accident severity in the United States. A generalized ordered logit model is estimated in order to account for the ordered nature of severity, while allowing the violation of the proportional odds assumption across severity categories. Data...... for the analysis are retrieved from the General Estimates System (GES) database for the years 2005-2009. Results show that accident severity increases: (i) for young bus drivers under the age of 25; (ii) for drivers beyond the age of 55, and most prominently for drivers over 65 years old; (iii) for female drivers......Recent years have witnessed a growing interest in improving bus safety operations worldwide. While in the United States buses are considered relatively safe, the number of bus accidents is far from being negligible, triggering the introduction of the Motor-coach Enhanced Safety Act of 2011.The...

The effect of vehicle characteristics on road accidents

CERN Document Server

Jones, I S

2016-01-01

The Effect of Vehicle Characteristics on Road Accidents investigates whether vehicle characteristics related to handling and stability contribute to road accidents. Using multiple regression analysis, this book addresses driver and vehicle effects separately in order to define both the magnitude of the handling/accident causation problem as well as the relative importance of the various performance measures. This monograph is comprised of six chapters and begins with detailed studies of accidents to determine the circumstances which lead to loss of control or overturning of a car on the road, and which accidents are likely to be influenced by the handling and stability characteristics of cars. Accident rates for these types of accident are then examined for the more popular models of car. Measures of vehicle handling and stability related to accident rates are also discussed. This text will be a useful resource for motorists and road engineers as well as transportation officials.

The antilock braking system anomaly: a drinking driver problem?

Science.gov (United States)

Harless, David W; Hoffer, George E

2002-05-01

Antilock braking systems (ABS) have held promise for reducing the incidence of accidents because they reduce stopping times on slippery surfaces and allow drivers to maintain steering control during emergency braking. Farmer et al. (Accident Anal. Prevent. 29 (1997) 745) provide evidence that antilock brakes are beneficial to nonoccupants: a set of 1992 model General Motors vehicles equipped with antilock brakes were involved in significantly fewer fatal crashes in which occupants of other vehicles, pedestrians, or bicyclists were killed. But, perversely, the risk of death for occupants of vehicles equipped with antilock brakes increased significantly after adoption. Farmer (Accident Anal. Prevent. 33 (2001) 361) updates the analysis for 1996- 1998 and finds a significant attenuation in the ABS anomaly. Researchers have put forward two hypotheses to explain this antilock brake anomaly: risk compensation and improper operation of antilock brake-equipped vehicles. We provide strong evidence for the improper operation hypothesis by showing that the antilock brake anomaly is confined largely to drinking drivers. Further, we show that the attenuation phenomenon occurs consistently after the first three to four years of vehicle service.

Spatiotemporal characteristics of elderly population's traffic accidents in Seoul using space-time cube and space-time kernel density estimation.

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Youngok; Cho, Nahye; Son, Serin

2018-01-01

The purpose of this study is to analyze how the spatiotemporal characteristics of traffic accidents involving the elderly population in Seoul are changing by time period. We applied kernel density estimation and hotspot analyses to analyze the spatial characteristics of elderly people's traffic accidents, and the space-time cube, emerging hotspot, and space-time kernel density estimation analyses to analyze the spatiotemporal characteristics. In addition, we analyzed elderly people's traffic accidents by dividing cases into those in which the drivers were elderly people and those in which elderly people were victims of traffic accidents, and used the traffic accidents data in Seoul for 2013 for analysis. The main findings were as follows: (1) the hotspots for elderly people's traffic accidents differed according to whether they were drivers or victims. (2) The hourly analysis showed that the hotspots for elderly drivers' traffic accidents are in specific areas north of the Han River during the period from morning to afternoon, whereas the hotspots for elderly victims are distributed over a wide area from daytime to evening. (3) Monthly analysis showed that the hotspots are weak during winter and summer, whereas they are strong in the hiking and climbing areas in Seoul during spring and fall. Further, elderly victims' hotspots are more sporadic than elderly drivers' hotspots. (4) The analysis for the entire period of 2013 indicates that traffic accidents involving elderly people are increasing in specific areas on the north side of the Han River. We expect the results of this study to aid in reducing the number of traffic accidents involving elderly people in the future.

An explorative study of the relationship between lifestyle and driving behaviour among young drivers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Møller, Mette

2004-01-01

The high accident risk among young drivers is a well-known and well-documented fact in most countries, including Denmark. Lifestyle has proven to be related to driving behaviour as well as accident risk among young drivers. However, the underlying process through which the relationship between...... the lifestyle and the driving behaviour is established is not yet fully understood. Using focus group interviews divided by sex and education this study explores the psychosocial function of driving as well as the process through which a relationship between lifestyle and driving behaviour is established....... Twenty-nine young drivers living in the Copenhagen area participated in the study. Data were analysed using a modified version of the Editing Analysis Style. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved....

Estimation of Subjective Mental Work Load Level with Heart Rate Variability by Tolerance to Driver's Mental Load

Science.gov (United States)

Yokoi, Toshiyuki; Itoh, Michimasa; Oguri, Koji

Most of the traffic accidents have been caused by inappropriate driver's mental state. Therefore, driver monitoring is one of the most important challenges to prevent traffic accidents. Some studies for evaluating the driver's mental state while driving have been reported; however driver's mental state should be estimated in real-time in the future. This paper proposes a way to estimate quantitatively driver's mental workload using heart rate variability. It is assumed that the tolerance to driver's mental workload is different depending on the individual. Therefore, we classify people based on their individual tolerance to mental workload. Our estimation method is multiple linear regression analysis, and we compare it to NASA-TLX which is used as the evaluation method of subjective mental workload. As a result, the coefficient of correlation improved from 0.83 to 0.91, and the standard deviation of error also improved. Therefore, our proposed method demonstrated the possibility to estimate mental workload.

Fatal accidents among Danes with multiple sclerosis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brønnum-Hansen, Henrik; Hansen, Thomas; Koch-Henriksen, Nils

2006-01-01

We compared the rate of fatal accidents among Danes with multiple sclerosis (MS) with that of the general population. The study was based on linkage of the Danish Multiple Sclerosis Registry to the Cause of Death Registry and covered all 10174 persons in whom MS was diagnosed during the period 19...... for deaths from burns (SMR = 8.90) and suffocation (SMR = 5.57). We conclude that persons with MS are more prone to fatal accidents than the general population. The excess risk is due not to traffic accidents but to burns and suffocation.......-1996. The end of follow-up was 1 January 1999. We calculated standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) for various types of fatal accidents. A total of 76 persons (48 men and 28 women) died from accidents, whereas the expected number of fatalities from such causes was 55.7 (31.4 men and 24.3 women). Thus, the risk...... for death from accidents among persons with MS was 37% higher than that of the general population (SMR = 1.37). We found no significant excess risk for fatal road accidents (SMR = 0.80). The risk for falls was elevated (SMR = 1.29) but not statistically significantly so. The risks were particularly high...

Effectiveness of electronic stability control on single-vehicle accidents.

Science.gov (United States)

Lyckegaard, Allan; Hels, Tove; Bernhoft, Inger Marie

2015-01-01

This study aims at evaluating the effectiveness of electronic stability control (ESC) on single-vehicle injury accidents while controlling for a number of confounders influencing the accident risk. Using police-registered injury accidents from 2004 to 2011 in Denmark with cars manufactured in the period 1998 to 2011 and the principle of induced exposure, 2 measures of the effectiveness of ESC were calculated: The crude odds ratio and the adjusted odds ratio, the latter by means of logistic regression. The logistic regression controlled for a number of confounding factors, of which the following were significant. For the driver: Age, gender, driving experience, valid driving license, and seat belt use. For the vehicle: Year of registration, weight, and ESC. For the accident surroundings: Visibility, light, and location. Finally, for the road: Speed limit, surface, and section characteristics. The present study calculated the crude odds ratio for ESC-equipped cars of getting in a single-vehicle injury accident as 0.40 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.34-0.47) and the adjusted odds ratio as 0.69 (95% CI, 0.54-0.88). No difference was found in the effectiveness of ESC across the injury severity categories (slight, severe, and fatal). In line with previous results, this study concludes that ESC reduces the risk for single-vehicle injury accidents by 31% when controlling for various confounding factors related to the driver, the car, and the accident surroundings. Furthermore, it is concluded that it is important to control for human factors (at a minimum age and gender) in analyses where evaluations of this type are performed.

Effect of consecutive driving on accident risk: a comparison between passenger and freight train driving.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Hsin-Li; Ju, Lai-Shun

2008-11-01

This study combined driver-responsible accidents with on-board driving hours to examine the effect of consecutive driving on the accident risk of train operations. The data collected from the Taiwan Railway Administration for the period 1996-2006 was used to compute accident rates for varied accumulated driving hours for passenger and freight trains. The results showed that accident risk grew with increased consecutive driving hours for both passenger and freight trains, and doubled that of the first hour after four consecutive hours of driving. Additional accident risk was found for freight trains during the first hour due to required shunting in the marshalling yards where there are complex track layouts and semi-automatic traffic controls. Also, accident risk for train driving increased more quickly over consecutive driving hours than for automobile driving, and accumulated fatigue caused by high working pressure and monotony of the working environment are considered to be the part of the reason. To prevent human errors accidents, enhancing safety equipment, driver training programs, and establishing a sound auditing system are suggested and discussed.

Regulating Hazardous-materials Transportation with Behavioral Modeling of Drivers

Science.gov (United States)

2018-01-29

Changhyun Kwon (ORCID ID 0000-0001-8455-6396) This project considers network regulation problems to minimize the risk of hazmat accidents and potential damages to the environment, while considering bounded rationality of drivers. We consider governme...

The impact of traffic sign deficit on road traffic accidents in Nigeria.

Science.gov (United States)

Ezeibe, Christian; Ilo, Chukwudi; Oguonu, Chika; Ali, Alphonsus; Abada, Ifeanyi; Ezeibe, Ezinwanne; Oguonu, Chukwunonso; Abada, Felicia; Izueke, Edwin; Agbo, Humphrey

2018-04-04

This study assesses the impact of traffic sign deficit on road traffic accidents in Nigeria. The participants were 720 commercial vehicle drivers. While simple random sampling was used to select 6 out of 137 federal highways, stratified random sampling was used to select six categories of commercial vehicle drivers. The study used qual-dominant mixed methods approach comprising key informant interviews; group interviews; field observation; policy appraisal and secondary literature on traffic signs. Result shows that the failure of government to provide and maintain traffic signs in order to guide road users through the numerous accident black spots on the highways is the major cause of road accidents in Nigeria. The study argues that provision and maintenance of traffic signs present opportunity to promoting safety on the highways and achieving the sustainable development goals.

Understanding Subgroups of Novice Drivers : A Basis for Increased Safety and Health

OpenAIRE

Berg, Hans-Yngve

2001-01-01

Every year, drivers throughout the world are killed or injured in road traffic, particularly in developing countries. Young drivers run a greater risk everywhere, and this problem is still largely unsolved. Better understanding of the underlying processes could, however, be a useful tool in preventive endeavours. The aim of this thesis is to elucidate some of the accident problem among young car drivers. The focus is on understanding how lifestyle and other social and demographical factors in...

Using speeding detections and numbers of fatalities to estimate relative risk of a fatality for motorcyclists and car drivers.

Science.gov (United States)

Huggins, Richard

2013-10-01

Precise estimation of the relative risk of motorcyclists being involved in a fatal accident compared to car drivers is difficult. Simple estimates based on the proportions of licenced drivers or riders that are killed in a fatal accident are biased as they do not take into account the exposure to risk. However, exposure is difficult to quantify. Here we adapt the ideas behind the well known induced exposure methods and use available summary data on speeding detections and fatalities for motorcycle riders and car drivers to estimate the relative risk of a fatality for motorcyclists compared to car drivers under mild assumptions. The method is applied to data on motorcycle riders and car drivers in Victoria, Australia in 2010 and a small simulation study is conducted. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Exploring Challenges in Developing a Smart and Effective Assistive System for Improving the Experience of the Elderly Drivers

Science.gov (United States)

Jung, Sebin; Meng, Hong-Ying; Qin, Sheng-Feng

2017-09-01

As the overall population ages, driving-related accidents and injuries, associated with elderly drivers, have risen. Existing research about elderly drivers mainly focuses on factual data collection and analysis, indicating the elderly's growing fatal accident rates and their different behaviours compared to younger drivers. However, few research has focused on design-led practical solutions to mitigate the elderly's growing fatal accidents, by considering their usability and body conditions, afflicting the elderly, such as decreased vision, hearing, and reaction times. In this paper, first, current worldwide situations on growing fatal accident rates for elderly drivers is reviewed and the key impact factors are identified and discussed with regarding to usability and design trend in the automotive technology for elderly. Second, existing smart vehicle technology-based solutions to promote safe driving are explored and their pros and cons are discussed and analysed. Most of solutions are not created by people with driving difficulties, which are caused by health problems most commonly afflicting the elderly. Thirdly, diverse design-led research activities are taken, such as a survey, observation, and interviews to gain new understanding of what kinds of driving problems elderly drivers have and demonstrate how new system concepts could be developed for the elderly's benefits. Finally, it is found that the elderly's low vision and late reaction are main factors causing their driving difficulties. Based on this finding, usable vehicle system design ideas have been proposed, by utilising facial expression sensing technology as a solution. The proposed solutions would ensure reducing both the elderly's driving problems and high fatal accident rates and provide a more enjoyable driving environment for the elderly population.

Validation of the Driver Stress Inventory in China: Relationship with dangerous driving behaviors.

Science.gov (United States)

Qu, Weina; Zhang, Qian; Zhao, Wenguo; Zhang, Kan; Ge, Yan

2016-02-01

Perceived stress while driving may affect how critical driving events are handled. The current study validates a Chinese version of the Driver Stress Inventory (DSI) and explores its correlation with dangerous driving behaviors and gender. A sample of 246 drivers completed the Chinese version of the DSI and the Driver Behavior Questionnaire (DBQ). We also evaluated specific sociodemographic variables and traffic violations (including speeding, violating traffic signs or markings, driving while intoxicated, running a red light, and incurring penalty points). A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) verified the DSI's internal structure. The DSI was also validated using questionnaires related to the DBQ, self-reported traffic accidents and violations, and sociodemographic characteristics. First, all of the DSI dimensions were moderately or weakly correlated with the DBQ subscales. Second, aggression, hazard monitoring and fatigue were weakly correlated with minor accidents. Third, drivers who had sped and violated traffic signs during the previous three years reported higher aggression and thrill seeking, while drivers who had violated traffic signs or markings during the previous three years reported decreased hazard monitoring compared with non-offenders. Finally, there were significant gender differences in driver stress. The Chinese version of the DSI will be useful for classifying and diagnosing drivers who may be at an increased risk for stress reactions. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[A project to reduce the incidence of facial pressure ulcers caused by prolonged surgery with prone positioning].

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Wen-Yi; Lin, Pao-Chen; Weng, Chia-Hsing; Lin, Yi-Lin; Tsai, Wen-Lin

2012-06-01

We observed in our institute a 13.6% incidence of prolonged surgery (>4 hours) induced facial pressure ulcers that required prone positioning. Causes identified included: (1) customized silicon face pillows used were not suited for every patient; (2) our institute lacked a standard operating procedure for prone positioning; (3) our institute lacked a postoperative evaluation and audit procedure for facial pressure ulcers. We designed a strategy to reduce post-prolonged surgery facial pressure ulcer incidence requiring prone positioning by 50% (i.e., from 13.6% to 6.8%). We implemented the following: (1) Created a new water pillow to relieve facial pressure; (2) Implemented continuing education pressure ulcer prevention and evaluation; (3) Established protocols on standard care for prone-position patients and proper facial pressure ulcer identification; (4) Established a face pressure ulcers accident reporting mechanism; and (5) Established an audit mechanism facial pressure ulcer cases. After implementing the resolution measures, 116 patients underwent prolonged surgery in a prone position (mean operating time: 298 mins). None suffered from facial pressure ulcers. The measures effectively reduced the incidence of facial pressure ulcers from 13.6% to 0.0%. The project used a water pillow to relieve facial pressure and educated staff to recognize and evaluate pressure ulcers. These measures were demonstrated effective in reducing the incidence of facial pressure ulcers caused by prolonged prone positioning.

Prevalence of drugs in oral fluid from truck drivers in Brazilian highways.

Science.gov (United States)

Bombana, Henrique Silva; Gjerde, Hallvard; Dos Santos, Marcelo Filonzi; Jamt, Ragnhild Elén Gjulem; Yonamine, Mauricio; Rohlfs, Waldo José Caram; Muñoz, Daniel Romero; Leyton, Vilma

2017-04-01

Traffic accidents are responsible for 1.25 million deaths worldwide and are the most common cause of death among those aged 15-29 years. In Brazil, traffic accidents caused more than 44,000 deaths in 2014. The use of psychoactive drugs is an important risk factor for being involved in traffic accidents. Previous studies have found that psychoactive substances are commonly used by truck drivers in Brazil to maintain their extensive work schedule and stay awake while driving during nighttime hours. The state of Sao Paulo is one of the most important states regarding goods transportation. Important highways cross through Sao Paulo to other regions from Brazil and to other countries in Latin America. This study aims to determine the prevalence of illicit drug use by truck drivers in the state of Sao Paulo through toxicological analyses of oral fluid. Truck drivers were randomly stopped by police officers on federal roads during morning hours. Oral fluid samples were collected using the Quantisal™ device. In addition, a questionnaire concerning sociodemographic characteristics and health information was administered. Oral fluid samples were screened for amphetamine, cocaine, and tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC) by ELISA and the confirmation was performed using ultra performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry detection (UPLC-MS/MS). Of the 764 drivers stopped, 762 agreed to participate. The participants were driving an average of 614km and 9.4h a day. Of the total samples, 5.2% (n=40) tested positive for drugs. Cocaine was the most frequently found drug (n=21), followed by amphetamine (n=16) and Δ9-THC (n=8). All drivers were men with an average age of 42.5 years. With these results we were able to verify that many truck drivers were still consuming psychoactive drugs while driving, and cocaine was the most prevalent one. This reinforces the need for preventive measures aimed at controlling the use of illicit drugs by truck drivers in Brazil

The role of alcohol in road traffic accidents with fatal outcome: 10-year period in Croatia Split-Dalmatia County.

Science.gov (United States)

Sutlovic, Davorka; Scepanovic, Antonija; Bosnjak, Marinko; Versic-Bratincevic, Maja; Definis-Gojanovic, Marija

2014-01-01

The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between alcohol consumption and fatal road traffic accidents that took place in Split-Dalmatia County (Croatia) during a 10-year period (from August 2001 to August 2011). A retrospective analysis of 474 autopsy reports was performed, with an emphasis on 337 toxicologal findings of blood alcohol concentration (BAC) and the mode of participation in traffic (driver, passenger, pedestrian, or cyclist). Relations between the BAC, the weekday on which death occurred, victim's age and gender, and differences according to 3 successive legislation periods within the observed time frame were analyzed. The BAC was measured by gas chromatography with headspace and flame ionization detection. Alcohol was regarded as a contributive death factor if BAC was positive; that is, higher than 0.5 g/kg. BAC was positive in 177 cases. Most often it was the car driver who had a positive BAC. Victims of traffic accidents were mostly male drivers, and those accidents were more often associated with alcohol consumption. Consumption of alcohol produced a significant increase in culpability. The results of our study show that alcohol remains one of the main contributing factors of traffic accidents in Split-Dalmatia County. Unfortunately, legislation changes regarding the allowed BAC did not cause any reduction in casualties among drivers driving under the influence of alcohol (DUIA). Chi-square test of the number of total driver victims and driver victims who were DUIA revealed no significant difference (P = .173).

The background factor of the driving compensation behavior among elderly drivers

OpenAIRE

Usui, Shinnosuke; Taishi, Nozomi

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study is to examine what factors lead to driving compensation behavior among elderly drivers, particularly focusing on the effect of self-reported driving performance, and to investigate the relationship between driving compensation behavior and traffic accidents or violations. After analyzing 237 elderly drivers, the results showed that whereas self-reported driving performances influenced driving compensation behaviors, the relationship between self-reported driving perf...

Assessing older drivers: a primary care protocol to evaluate driving safety risk.

Science.gov (United States)

Murden, Robert A; Unroe, Kathleen

2005-08-01

Most articles on elder drivers offer either general advice, or review testing protocols that divide drivers into two distinct groups: safe or unsafe. We believe it is unreasonable to expect any testing to fully separate drivers into just these two mutually exclusive groups, so we offer a protocol for a more practical approach. This protocol can be applied by primary care physicians. We review the justification for the many steps of this protocol, which have branches that lead to identifying drivers as low risk, high risk (for accidents) or needing further evaluation. Options for further evaluation are provided.

Enhancing the Driver Awareness of Pedestrian using Augmented Reality Cues

OpenAIRE

Phan , Minh Tien; Thouvenin , Indira; Frémont , Vincent

2016-01-01

International audience; Pedestrian accident is a serious problem for the society. Pedestrian Collision Warning Systems (PCWS) are proposed to detect the presence of pedestrians and to warn the driver about the potential dangers. However, their interfaces associated with ambiguous alerts can distract drivers and create more dangers. On the other hand, Augmented Reality (AR) with Head-Up Display (HUD) interfaces have recently attracted the attention in the field of automotive research as they c...

Driver Performance Problems of Intercity Bus Public Transportation Safety in Indonesia

Science.gov (United States)

Suraji, A.; Harnen, S.; Wicaksono, A.; Djakfar, L.

2017-11-01

The risk of an inter-city bus public accident can be influenced by various factors such as the driver’s performance. Therefore, knowing the various influential factors related to driver’s performance is very necessary as an effort to realize road traffic safety. This study aims to determine the factors that fall on the accident associated with the driver’s performance and make mathematical modeling factors that affect the accident. Methods of data retrieval were obtained from NTSC secondary data. The data was processed by identifying factors that cause the accident. Furthermore data processing and analysis used the PCA method to obtain mathematical modeling of factors influencing the inter-city bus accidents. The results showed that the main factors that cause accidents are health, discipline, and driver competence.

The influence of car registration year on driver casualty rates in Great Britain.

Science.gov (United States)

Broughton, Jeremy

2012-03-01

A previous paper analysed data from the British national road accident reporting system to investigate the influence upon car driver casualty rates of the general type of car being driven and its year of first registration. A statistical model was fitted to accident data from 2001 to 2005, and this paper updates the principal results using accident data from 2003 to 2007. Attention focuses upon the role of year of first registration since this allows the influence of developments in car design upon occupant casualty numbers to be evaluated. Three additional topics are also examined with these accident data. Changes over time in frontal and side impacts are compared. Changes in the combined risk for the two drivers involved in a car-car collision are investigated, being the net result of changes in secondary safety and aggressivity. Finally, the results of the new model relating to occupant protection are related to an index that had been developed previously to analyse changes over time in the secondary safety of the car fleet. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The effect of road and environmental characteristics on pedestrian hit-and-run accidents in Ghana.

Science.gov (United States)

Aidoo, Eric Nimako; Amoh-Gyimah, Richard; Ackaah, Williams

2013-04-01

The number of pedestrians who have died as a result of being hit by vehicles has increased in recent years, in addition to vehicle passenger deaths. Many pedestrians who were involved in road traffic accident died as a result of the driver leaving the pedestrian who was struck unattended at the scene of the accident. This paper seeks to determine the effect of road and environmental characteristics on pedestrian hit-and-run accidents in Ghana. Using pedestrian accident data extracted from the National Road Traffic Accident Database at the Building and Road Research Institute (BRRI) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Ghana, a binary logit model was employed in the analysis. The results from the estimated model indicate that fatal accidents, unclear weather, nighttime conditions, and straight and flat road sections without medians and junctions significantly increase the likelihood that the vehicle driver will leave the scene after hitting a pedestrian. Thus, integrating median separation and speed humps into road design and construction and installing street lights will help to curb the problem of pedestrian hit-and-run accidents in Ghana. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Perceptions of risk factors for road traffic accidents

OpenAIRE

Smith, Andrew; Smith, Hugo

2017-01-01

Research has identified a number of risk factors for road traffic accidents. Some of these require education of drivers and a first step in this process is to assess perceptions of these risk factors to determine the current level of awareness. An online survey examined risk perception with the focus being on driver behavior, risk taking and fatigue. The results showed that drivers’ perceptions of the risk from being fatigued was lower than the perceived risk from the other factors.

Public Health Profile of Road Traffic Accidents in Kosovo 2010-2015.

Science.gov (United States)

Ramadani, Naser; Zhjeqi, Valbona; Berisha, Merita; Hoxha, Rina; Begolli, Ilir; Salihu, Drita; Krasniqi, Pranvera

2017-12-15

To determine the characteristics of the Socio-medical profile of road traffic accidents in Kosovo, between 2010 and 2015 year. Retrospective study. A descriptive method based on the database of road traffic accidents from the National Police of Kosovo. In Kosovo for the period 2010-2015, on average, the yearly number of road traffic accidents is 18437 with mortality rate 7.4 per 100000 and lethality of 1.5%. The highest number of fatal cases are drivers and above 19 years old with more than 80%. Among injured significantly highest percentage is among passengers for all years and above 19 years old. Road traffic accident with a vehicle occurs most frequently, with approximately over 70%, mostly on dry road 72.9% and clear weather 71.1%. The driver is the contributing factors of road traffic accidents on average 99.3% whereas climatic conditions only 0.5%, with over 50% of crashes occurring in urban road 56.2%, mostly during Monday 16.0% and in the afternoon rush hours between 14.00-18.00 with 31.0%. There is a slight decrease in the mortality rate of 0.1‰ and lethality rate of 0.1% each year, whereas there is an increase of 21.5‰ for traumatism rate for each year.

Un chercheur du CERN tué dans un accident

CERN Multimedia

2008-01-01

The accident occured on Sunday between Collonges and Pougnu (Pays de Gex): 4 russians scientists were aboard the vehicle; the driver lost the control of the vehicle and the car made a barrel. (1/4 page)

Powered two-wheeler drivers' risk of hitting a pedestrian in towns.

Science.gov (United States)

Clabaux, Nicolas; Fournier, Jean-Yves; Michel, Jean-Emmanuel

2014-12-01

The risk of collision between pedestrians and powered two-wheelers is poorly understood today. The objective of this research is to determine the risk for powered two-wheeler drivers of hitting and injuring a pedestrian per kilometer driven in towns and to compare this risk with that run by four-wheeled vehicle drivers. Using the bodily injury accidents recorded by the police on nine roads in the city of Marseille in 2011 and a campaign of observations of powered two-wheeler traffic, we estimated the risk per kilometer driven by powered two-wheeler drivers of hitting a pedestrian and compared it with the risk run by four-wheeled vehicle drivers. The results show that the risk for powered two-wheeler drivers of hitting and injuring a pedestrian is significantly higher than the risk run by four-wheeled vehicle drivers. On the nine roads studied, it is on average 3.33 times higher (95% CI: 1.63; 6.78). Taking four more years into account made it possible to consolidate these results and to tighten the confidence interval. There does indeed seem to be problems in the interactions between pedestrians and powered two-wheeler users in urban traffic. These interaction problems lead to a higher risk of hitting and injuring a pedestrian for powered two-wheeler drivers than for four-wheeled vehicle drivers. The analysis of the police reports suggests that part of this increased risk comes from filtering maneuvers by powered two-wheelers. Possible countermeasures deal with the urban street layout. Measures consisting in reducing the width and the number of traffic lanes to a strict minimum and installing medians or pedestrian islands could be an effective way for the prevention of urban accidents between pedestrians and powered two-wheelers. Copyright © 2014 National Safety Council and Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Factors contributing to young moped rider accidents in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Møller, Mette; Haustein, Sonja

2016-01-01

Young road users still constitute a high-risk group with regard to road traffic accidents. The crash rate of a moped is four times greater than that of a motorcycle, and the likelihood of being injured in a road traffic accident is 10-20 times higher among moped riders compared to car drivers...... was made between accident factors related to (1) the road and its surroundings, (2) the vehicle, and (3) the reported behaviour and condition of the road user. Thirteen accident factors were identified with the majority concerning the reported behaviour and condition of the road user. The average number...... of accident factors assigned per accident was 2.7. Riding speed was assigned in 45% of the accidents which made it the most frequently assigned factor on the part of the moped rider followed by attention errors (42%), a tuned up moped (29%) and position on the road (14%). For the other parties involved...

SMARTPHONE-BASED APPROACH TO ADVANCED DRIVER ASSISTANCE SYSTEM (ADAS RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. B. Lashkov

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Subject of Research.The paper deals with findings and presents asmartphone-based approach to advanced driver assistance system (ADAS research and development.The approach is based on the data of smartphone cameras and sensors. The line of researchis associated with the developmentof mobile advanced driver assistance system (ADAS. Method.The proposedapproach isbased on the use of driver'sand vehicle behavior ontologies. Current ADAS systems can be divided into two main categories according to the method of implementation: mobile applications, manually installed by the driver from the application stores, and safetyhardware and softwaresystems,integrated into vehicles by manufacturesor in the automotive service centers.Mobile application installed on the smartphone uses the built-in rear and front-facing cameras and sensors to monitor both the road and vehicles ahead, and at the same time the driver in order to prevent traffic collisions. The service consists of components for objects recognition in the images obtained with cameras, and components for traffic situation analysis. Main Results. The driver safety mobile application has been developedfor the use on mobile phones.The mobile phone is mounted on the windshield of a car.In case of dangerous event occurrence, the application engine will make an audible or vibration signal to inform the driver to be concentratedand more vigilant. For example, road obstacles, rear-end and stationary vehicle accidents are the most common accident types.The mobile application detects whether a crash is imminent by computing the ‘Time To Contact’ (TTC taking into account host vehicle speed, relative speed and relative acceleration.If the driver doesn’t maintain safe minimum distance with the car immediately ahead, the mobile application will alert the driver by displaying an attention icon with an audible alert. The dual-camera sensing application is designed to help the drivers increase the trip safety

Safety Risk of Mobile Phone Use while Driving in Sample of Taxi Drivers

OpenAIRE

Murat Darçın; Murat Alkan

2015-01-01

Previous research has shown that mobile phone use while driving increases the risk of being involved in an accident. This paper investigates the reported frequency of taxi drivers' mobile phone use and its effects on traffic safety. A representative sample of taxi drivers was included in an interview-based survey by trained interviewers. It was found that 81% of the taxi drivers reported talking by using hand-held phone while driving. There is a relationship between the phoning while driving ...

Traffic dynamics around weaving section influenced by accident: Cellular automata approach

Science.gov (United States)

Kong, Lin-Peng; Li, Xin-Gang; Lam, William H. K.

2015-07-01

The weaving section, as a typical bottleneck, is one source of vehicle conflicts and an accident-prone area. Traffic accident will block lanes and the road capacity will be reduced. Several models have been established to study the dynamics around traffic bottlenecks. However, little attention has been paid to study the complex traffic dynamics influenced by the combined effects of bottleneck and accident. This paper presents a cellular automaton model to characterize accident-induced traffic behavior around the weaving section. Some effective control measures are proposed and verified for traffic management under accident condition. The total flux as a function of inflow rates, the phase diagrams, the spatial-temporal diagrams, and the density and velocity profiles are presented to analyze the impact of accident. It was shown that the proposed control measures for weaving traffic can improve the capacity of weaving section under both normal and accident conditions; the accidents occurring on median lane in the weaving section are more inclined to cause traffic jam and reduce road capacity; the capacity of weaving section will be greatly reduced when the accident happens downstream the weaving section.

Chinese carless young drivers' self-reported driving behavior and simulated driving performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Qian; Jiang, Zuhua; Zheng, Dongpeng; Man, Dong; Xu, Xunnan

2013-01-01

Carless young drivers refers to those drivers aged between 18 and 25 years who have a driver's license but seldom have opportunities to practice their driving skills because they do not have their own cars. Due to China's lower private car ownership, many young drivers become carless young drivers after licensure, and the safety issue associated with them has raised great concern in China. This study aims to provide initial insight into the self-reported driving behaviors and simulated driving performance of Chinese carless young drivers. Thirty-three carless young drivers and 32 young drivers with their own cars (as a comparison group) participated in this study. A modified Driver Behavior Questionnaire (DBQ) with a 4-factor structure (errors, violations, attention lapses, and memory lapses) was used to study carless young drivers' self-reported driving behaviors. A simulated driving experiment using a low-cost, fixed-base driving simulator was conducted to measure their simulated driving performance (errors, violations, attention lapses, driving maintenance, reaction time, and accidents). Self-reported DBQ outcomes showed that carless young drivers reported similar errors, more attention lapses, fewer memory lapses, and significantly fewer violation behaviors relative to young drivers with their own cars, whereas simulated driving results revealed that they committed significantly more errors, attention lapses, and violation behaviors than the comparison group. Carless young drivers had a lower ability to maintain the stability of speed and lane position, drove more cautiously approaching and passing through red traffic lights, and committed more accidents during simulated driving. A tendency to speed was not found among carless young drivers; their average speed and speeding frequency were all much lower than that of the comparison group. Lifetime mileage was the only significant predictor of carless young drivers' self-reported violations, simulated violations

Prevalence of alcohol and other psychoactive substances in injured and killed drivers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Isalberti, Cristina; Linden, Trudy Van der; Legrand, Sara-Ann

2011-01-01

regarding the prevalence of alcohol and other psychoactive substances in drivers who have been injured/killed in traffic accidents. Part 1 of this report presents the general results of the hospital & killed driver studies. After a short introduction, the representativeness of the populations in the EU...... countries as well as the representativeness of hospitalised and killed driver samples are addressed. An overview of the non-response issues in the various countries is also included. Based on the toxicological findings, a general summary of the prevalence of drug use is given for the 9 participating...

Impact of gender, organized athletics, and video gaming on driving skills in novice drivers.

Science.gov (United States)

Wayne, Nancy L; Miller, Gregory A

2018-01-01

Given that novice drivers tend to be young, and teenagers and young adult drivers are involved in the greatest number of accidents, it is important that we understand what factors impact the driving skills of this population of drivers. The primary aim of the present study was to understand the impact of gender, organized athletics, and video gaming on driving skills of novice drivers under real-world driving conditions. Novice driving students having less than five hours driving experience previous to a normal driving lesson were evaluated on their self-confidence (self-reported) prior to the lesson and driving skill evaluated by their instructor during the course of the lesson. Information was collected about gender, age, whether or not the students were involved in organized athletics, and the extent of their video game playing. There was no impact of gender or extent of video game playing on driving skills. Females were significantly less self-confident with driving than males, but this did not translate to gender differences in driving skills. Being involved in organized athletics-either currently or in the past-significantly enhanced driving skills in both females and males. Finally, novice drivers' age was negatively correlated with driving skills. That is, younger novice drivers (especially males) had better driving skills than older novice drivers. This is counter to popular belief that young drivers lack technical driving skills because they have less experience behind the wheel. Based on the results of the current study, we hypothesize that the relatively high accident rate of younger drivers (especially male drivers) is most likely due to inattention to safety considerations rather than lack of technical driving ability.

Pattern Recognition and Classification of Fatal Traffic Accidents in Israel A Neural Network Approach

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Prato, Carlo Giacomo; Gitelman, Victoria; Bekhor, Shlomo

2011-01-01

on 1,793 fatal traffic accidents occurred during the period between 2003 and 2006 and applies Kohonen and feed-forward back-propagation neural networks with the objective of extracting from the data typical patterns and relevant factors. Kohonen neural networks reveal five compelling accident patterns....... Feed-forward back-propagation neural networks indicate that sociodemographic characteristics of drivers and victims, accident location, and period of the day are extremely relevant factors. Accident patterns suggest that countermeasures are necessary for identified problems concerning mainly vulnerable...

Design features of ACR in severe accident mitigation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shapiro, H.; Krishnan, V.S.; Santamaura, P.; Lekakh, B.; Blahnik, C.

2007-01-01

New reactor designs require the evaluation of design alternatives to reduce the radiological risk by preventing severe accidents or by limiting releases from the plant in the event of such accidents. The Advanced CANDU Reactor TM (ACR TM ) design has provisions to prevent and mitigate severe accidents. This paper describes key ACR design features for severe accident mitigation. It provides a high-level overview of the findings to date. Several design provisions have not yet been finalized or decided, but the designers are keenly aware of the SAM concepts and their requirements. The active heat sinks for 'vessels' (i.e., the fuel channels, the calandria vessel, the calandria end-shields and the calandria vault) are all amply capable of dissipating the severe accident heat loads. These heat sinks are designed to be operable under severe accident environmental conditions; however, their operability is yet to be confirmed by assessments. The active heat sinks for the various process vessels are 'backed up' by passive heat sinks (i.e., steaming plus water make-up from the RWS). The supply side of passive heat sinks is simple, rugged, and not vulnerable to failures of plant systems. The importance of the steam relief side is recognized, and the adequate relief capacity will be provided. The passive heat sinks will give the SAM more than 1 day (likely several days) to diagnose the accident and to establish the ultimate heat sinks. The spray system for containment pressure suppression is designed for high reliability and has ample capacity to ensure low containment leakage without external intervention, after which time alternative supply to the sprays can be brought on line manually. The sprays are backed up by the LACs which are assessed for operability following a severe accident. The strong ACR containment will provide a long time of completely passive protection for any severe accident at decay power. Its characteristics are not prone to catastrophic failures. The

Integrated Context-Aware Driver Assistance System Architecture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elhadi M. Shakshuki

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Recently, significant improvements have been made in the area of vehicular communication systems. Furthermore, vehicle-to-vehicle communication is considered a key concept for keeping roads safe. An efficient implementation of these systems is necessary to ensure the safety of driving situations and to reduce the collision rates. This paper proposes a Context-Aware Driver Assistance System that links drivers with the physical environment surrounding them using multiple types of sensors and traffic systems as well as considering the senior driver's difficulties and the system processing time. This is achieved by developing a warning system that assists drivers to avoid collisions and improve their response times. The proposed system architecture consists of a set of components to process the user's request such as parking assistance, and to provide responses and advices when needed. These components include communication, knowledge exchange, knowledge update, and context-history. Also, it includes other processes such as context-history manipulation, hazard detection, and hazard detection control. The main goal of the proposed system is to reduce the number of car accidents and improve driver's decisions. The NXT Robotic environment is used to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed system.

Near peripheral motion contrast threshold predicts older drivers' simulator performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Henderson, Steven; Gagnon, Sylvain; Collin, Charles; Tabone, Ricardo; Stinchcombe, Arne

2013-01-01

Our group has previously demonstrated that peripheral motion contrast threshold (PMCT) is significantly associated with self-reported accident risk of older drivers (questionnaire assessment), and with Useful Field of View(®) subtest 2 (UFOV2). It has not been shown, however, that PMCT is significantly associated with driving performance. Using the method of descending limits (spatial two-alternative forced choice) we assessed motion contrast thresholds of 28 young participants (25-45), and 21 older drivers (63-86) for 0.4 cycle/degree drifting Gabor stimuli at 15° eccentricity and examined whether it was related to performance on a simulated on-road test and to a measure of visual attention (UFOV(®) subtests 2 and 3). Peripheral motion contrast thresholds (PMCT) of younger participants were significantly lower than older participants. PMCT and UFOV2 significantly predicted driving examiners' scores of older drivers' simulator performance, as well as number of crashes. Within the older group, PMCT correlated significantly with UFOV2, UFOV3, and age. Within the younger group, PMCT was not significantly related to either UFOV(®) scores or age. Partial correlations showed that: substantial association between PMCT and UFOV2 was not age-related (within the older driver group); PMCT and UFOV2 tapped a common visual function; and PMCT assessed a component not captured by UFOV2. PMCT is potentially a useful assessment tool for predicting accident risk of older drivers, and for informing efforts to develop effective countermeasures to remediate this functional deficit as much as possible. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Fatal occupational accidents in Lombardy].

Science.gov (United States)

Pianosi, G

1995-01-01

All fatal occupational accidents compensated in Lombardy from 1984 to 1989 were analyzed (1259 cases): significant differences between geographical distribution of fatal occupational accidents and workers were observed. Males accounted for about 95% of fatalities; an excess of cases was shown in both young and elderly workers. Death was the consequence of injuries involving most frequently the head, thorax and spinal cord. An excess of fatalities was observed in agriculture and, at a lower level, in manufacturing industries; small enterprises were involved in approximately 25% of fatalities occurring in the manufacturing industries and services. Employers were the victims of fatal accidents in 50% of cases in agriculture and in 70% of cases in craft industries. Construction, agriculture and transport accounted for about 50% of all fatalities. About 50% of fatal occupational accidents were related to vehicle use: the victim was the driver in the majority of cases, sometimes the victim was run over by a vehicle or fell from a vehicle. The results agree with some previous observations (e.g.: sex and age distribution; construction, agriculture and transport as working activities at high accident risk); but some original observations have emerged, in particular about the frequency of employers as victims and the role of vehicles in the genesis of fatal occupational accidents. If further studies confirm these latter observations, important developments could follow in preventive action design and implementation.

Risk factors affecting the severity of traffic accidents at Shanghai river-crossing tunnel.

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Jian John; Xing, Yingying; Wang, Chen; Cai, Xiaonan

2016-01-01

With increasing traffic volume and urban development, increasing numbers of underground tunnels have been constructed to relieve conflict between strained land and heavy traffic. However, as more long tunnels are constructed, tunnel traffic safety is becoming increasingly serious. Thus, it is necessary to acquire their implications and impacts. This study examined 4,539 traffic accidents that have occurred in 14 Shanghai river-crossing tunnels for the period 2011-2012 and analyze the correlation between potential factors and accident injury severity. An ordered logit model was developed to examine the correlation between potential factors and accident injury severity. Results show that increased injury severity is associated with male drivers, drivers aged 65 years or older, accident time from midnight to dawn, weekends, wet road surface, goods vehicles, 3 or more vehicles, 4 or more lanes, middle speed limits (50-79 km/h), zone 3, extra-long tunnels (over 3,000 m), and maximum longitudinal gradient. This article aims to provide useful information for engineers to develop interventions and countermeasures to improve tunnel safety in China.

A Logic Architecture for 360 ADAS-Alerts for Hazards Detection Based in Driver Actions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Izquierdo-Reyes Javier

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In this work is presented a novel approach for passive safety in vehicles by Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS alert emission in 360° around driver to notify about hazards nearby the vehicle depending on the actions taken by driver per the context. This proposal would create a more robust system compared to current passive ADAS systems since the feedback to driver is in the same direction that hazard is detected (Punctual Sound Source Alert, compared with most assistance systems that emits sounds from the monitor or from the dashboard provoking distractions when emits alerts unnecessarily. The increase of security by this method will allow the driver to be aware of their surroundings even in a very quiet cabin or in a noisy environment. Also, it would detect the steering wheel angle, speed of movement and the activation of turning lights among other alerts, which would allow us to define a critical action during driving; apart from using sensors and cameras aimed at the driver to detect patterns of movement during these critical actions and have a prediction of a possible turn or manoeuvre when driving, refer to Figure 1. It will be necessary a reconfiguration of the alert in frequency, time of action depending upon the level of risk to prevent an accident or to reduce the consequences in an imminent accident.

Improving car drivers' perception of motorcyclists through innovative headlight configurations

OpenAIRE

CAVALLO, Viola; RANCHET, Maud; PINTO, Maria; ESPIE, Stéphane; VIENNE, Fabrice; DANG, Nguyen-Thong

2013-01-01

The most frequent cause of motorcycle accidents involves another vehicle violating the motorcycle's right-of-way at an intersection. In addition to detection errors, the misperception of the approaching motorcycle's speed and time-to-arrival is another driver error that may account for these accidents (e.g., Horswill et al., 2005). This misperception has been shown to be related to the small size of the motorcycle and the small angular velocity when it is approaching. In two experiments we te...

Development of Regulatory Requirements for Qualification Management of Railway Drivers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Byun, Seong Nam; Kim, Sa Kil; Kyung, Tae Won; Kim, Jung Ho; Heo, Eun Mee; Park, Hong Jun [Kyung Hee University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2008-03-15

It has been estimated that up to 90% of all workplace accidents have human error as a cause. Human error has been widely recognized as a key factor in almost all the highly publicized accidents, including Daegu subway fire of February 18, 2003 killed 198 people and injured 147. Because most human behavior is {sup u}nintentional{sup ,} carried out automatically, uncontrolled qualifications of rail drivers as root causes of human error should be carefully investigated and regulated by a legal authority.

Development of Regulatory Requirements for Qualification Management of Railway Drivers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Byun, Seong Nam; Kim, Sa Kil; Kyung, Tae Won; Kim, Jung Ho; Heo, Eun Mee; Park, Hong Jun

2008-03-01

It has been estimated that up to 90% of all workplace accidents have human error as a cause. Human error has been widely recognized as a key factor in almost all the highly publicized accidents, including Daegu subway fire of February 18, 2003 killed 198 people and injured 147. Because most human behavior is u nintentional , carried out automatically, uncontrolled qualifications of rail drivers as root causes of human error should be carefully investigated and regulated by a legal authority

Traffic Safety of Older Drivers in Various Types of Road Intersections

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tomaž Tollazzi

2010-05-01

Full Text Available In industrialized countries people over 50 years of age represent a rapidly growing part of population. Their lifestyle is also becoming more active, which means that the percentage of older drivers in the population of all drivers is also increasing. Many different studies have shown that elderly drivers are more frequently involved in specific types of accidents, especially at intersections. In the past 15 years there was a trend of increasing popularity of roundabouts in Slovenia. Their introduction was generally supported by the arguments of increased traffic-flow capacity and traffic safety as well. The studies on which these arguments are based were performed with an “ideal” type of driver in mind; the one that fully understands new rules and reacts correctly in all situations that may occur at such intersections, where there are no light signals to guide them. An elderly person does not necessarily conform to that ideal and if the percentage of elderly drivers became significant, the premises of the above mentioned studies may not be correct anymore which in turn implies that their results could also be questioned. The present study concentrated on the evaluation of traffic safety of elderly drivers, at various types of intersection, from their own perspective. Various statistical analyses of obtained data were performed. The most important finding was that we may claim, with high degree of probability, that the average person of the age of over 60 feels more unsafe at double-lane roundabouts than they would feel had the same intersection been equipped with traffic lights. Elderly traffic participants will always cause more accidents or participate in them due to hazardous factors. Challenge, arising from many different studies and researches, is in studying what measures and solutions can reduce the risk for elderly participants. KEYWORDS: traffic safety, road intersections, roundabouts, elderly people, older drivers

Impact of gender, organized athletics, and video gaming on driving skills in novice drivers

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Gregory A.

2018-01-01

Given that novice drivers tend to be young, and teenagers and young adult drivers are involved in the greatest number of accidents, it is important that we understand what factors impact the driving skills of this population of drivers. The primary aim of the present study was to understand the impact of gender, organized athletics, and video gaming on driving skills of novice drivers under real-world driving conditions. Novice driving students having less than five hours driving experience previous to a normal driving lesson were evaluated on their self-confidence (self-reported) prior to the lesson and driving skill evaluated by their instructor during the course of the lesson. Information was collected about gender, age, whether or not the students were involved in organized athletics, and the extent of their video game playing. There was no impact of gender or extent of video game playing on driving skills. Females were significantly less self-confident with driving than males, but this did not translate to gender differences in driving skills. Being involved in organized athletics—either currently or in the past—significantly enhanced driving skills in both females and males. Finally, novice drivers’ age was negatively correlated with driving skills. That is, younger novice drivers (especially males) had better driving skills than older novice drivers. This is counter to popular belief that young drivers lack technical driving skills because they have less experience behind the wheel. Based on the results of the current study, we hypothesize that the relatively high accident rate of younger drivers (especially male drivers) is most likely due to inattention to safety considerations rather than lack of technical driving ability. PMID:29364957

Consistency between subjectively and objectively measured hazard perception skills among young male drivers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Abele, Liva; Haustein, Sonja; Møller, Mette

2018-01-01

. Subjective measures of HPS include self-reports derived based on the Hazard Perception Questionnaire (HPQ), Driving Skill Questionnaire (DSQ), and Brief Sensation Seeking Scale (BSSS). Results show that drivers who respond to the hazards on time, as compared to drivers who do not respond, have higher scores......Young male drivers have lower hazard perception skills (HPS) than older and more experienced drivers and a tendency to overestimate their skills in hazardous situations. Both factors contribute to an over-representation in traffic accidents. Based on a sample of 63 drivers aged 18-24, this study...... negatively when the hazard is visible. To enhance the HPS among young drivers, the results of this study suggest that specific hazard perception training is relevant, especially for hazards that require more advanced HPS....

Safety Risk of Mobile Phone Use while Driving in Sample of Taxi Drivers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Murat Darçın

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Previous research has shown that mobile phone use while driving increases the risk of being involved in an accident. This paper investigates the reported frequency of taxi drivers' mobile phone use and its effects on traffic safety. A representative sample of taxi drivers was included in an interview-based survey by trained interviewers. It was found that 81% of the taxi drivers reported talking by using hand-held phone while driving. There is a relationship between the phoning while driving and drivers' self-reported involvement in a dangerous situation. It is clear that the use of mobile phone while driving is an important traffic safety issue.

Estimation of Crash Severity on Mountainous Freeways in Chongqing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yunwei Meng

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Mountainous freeways always suffer from accidents due to special terrain, weather conditions, driving environment, and so on. Based on the records of 898 accidents that occurred on mountainous freeways in Chongqing during the past 6 years, the partial proportional odds model is used to identify the factors affecting the accident severity. The time of the accident, season, involvement of trucks, accident characteristics, speeding, maximum driving experience of involved drivers, and weather and road conditions are found to be important for the levels of accident severity. Zero to 6 a.m. and 19 to 24 p.m. are the times prone to serious traffic accidents. The probability of serious traffic accidents in summer and autumn is greater than that in spring and winter. Once a truck is involved in an accident, the consequence is often more severe. Turnover and speeding will result in a grave accident. When there is an experienced driver, the probability of serious traffic accidents is low. The fog is extremely unfavorable weather conditions. The probability of serious accident happening in the downgrade, ramp, curve, bridge, and tunnel sections is greater than the others. The results aim to provide valuable reference for traffic safety on mountainous freeways.

A comprehensive review of rollover accidents involving vehicles equipped with Electronic Stability Control (ESC) systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Padmanaban, Jeya; Shields, Leland E; Scheibe, Robert R; Eyges, Vitaly E

2008-10-01

This study investigated 478 police accident reports from 9 states to examine and characterize rollover crashes involving ESC-equipped vehicles. The focus was on the sequence of critical events leading to loss of control and rollover, and the interactions between the accident, driver, and environment. Results show that, while ESC is effective in reducing loss of control leading to certain rollover crashes, its effectiveness is diminished in others, particularly when the vehicle departs the roadway or when environmental factors such as slick road conditions or driver factors such as speeding, distraction, fatigue, impairment, or overcorrection are present.

Clinical symptoms of sleep apnea syndrome and automobile accidents

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Haraldsson, P O; Carenfelt, C; Diderichsen, Finn

1990-01-01

Patients with clinical features of sleep apnea syndrome (SAS) and self-reported sleep spells at the wheel do poorly in simulated monotonous driving. To evaluate whether drivers with defined symptoms of SAS (heavy snoring, sleep disturbances and daytime sleepiness) compensate in real traffic...... by careful driving or not, the rate of car accidents over a 5-year period was investigated. A questionnaire was addressed to 140 patients with and 142 controls without symptoms associated to SAS. Seventy-three of the patients had a complete triad of SAS-associated symptoms. Fifty-two percent...... with a complete triad of symptoms of SAS compared to controls (p less than 0.001). When corrected for mileage driven, the total number of single-car accidents was almost 12 times higher among patients with sleep spells whilst driving, compared to controls (p less than 0.001). It is concluded that drivers...

Active and passive vehicle safety at Volkswagen accident research

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jungmichel, M.; Stanzel, M.; Zobel, R. [Volkswagen AG, Wolfsburg (Germany)

2001-07-01

Accident Analysis is an efficient means of improving vehicle passive safety and is used frequently and intensively. However, reliable data on accident causation is much more difficult to obtain. In most cases, one or more of the persons involved in an accident will face litigation and therefore are reluctant to provide the information that is essential to researchers. In addition, antilock brakes in almost every current vehicle have caused certain characteristic evidence, i.e. skid marks, to appear much less frequently than before. However, this evidence provides valuable information for assessing the reaction of the driver and his attempt to avoid the accident. In order to implement strategies of accident avoidance, accident causation must first be fully understood. Therefore, one of the assignments of the Volkswagen Accident Research Unit is to interpret global statistics, as well as to study single cases in order to come up with strategies for collision avoidance or mitigation. Currently, our primary concern is focused on active vehicle safety by researching vehicle behavior in the pre-crash phase. (orig.)

FACTORS RELATED TO MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENT RISK BEHAVIOR AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN NORTHEASTERN THAILAND.

Science.gov (United States)

Chumpawadee, Urai; Homchampa, Pissamai; Thongkrajai, Pramote; Suwanimitr, Amorn; Chadbunchachai, Witaya

2015-07-01

Young motorcycle drivers in Thailand are at high risk for road traffic accidents. We conducted this study to identify factors associated with motorcycle accident risk behavior (MARB). We studied 372 randomly selected university students aged 18-22 years (mean 20.2 years; women comprised 68.0% of our participants), who attend a government university in northeastern Thailand. Each student was asked to fill out a questionnaire asking about MARB and factors associated with this behavior. The respondents had an average of 6.2 years (SD+3.09) motorcycle driving experience, 72.3% had a motorcycle driver's license and 83.0% had accident insurance. The prevalence of self-reported motorcycle accident injuries was 42.7%. Their major MARB were using a telephone while driving (69.3%), speeding (45.4%), driving with more than one passenger (40.1%), drunk driving (22.1%), and not wearing a helmet (23.3%). Factors related to MARB were: gender, with men engaged in risky behavior more often than women (p motorcycle driving--drivers with > 5 years experience were more likely to engage in risky behavior (p < 0.05); and knowledge of safe driving, those with a greater knowledge of safe driving were more likely to drive safely (p < 0.001). Having a greater awareness of MARB was associated with lower risk of engaging in risky behavior (p < 0.001). Students who engaged in risky behavior were more likely to view it as normal behavior (p < 0.001) and less likely to have adequate self-control (p < 0.001). Our findings indicate a need to strengthen accident prevention programs for university students in northeastern Thailand.

[Drunk driving in professional drivers in the Vía Blanca highway in Cuba].

Science.gov (United States)

Guanche Garcell, Humberto; Suárez Enríquez, Tomás; Gutiérrez García, Francisco; Martínez Quesada, Carlos; Mendoza Pérez, Ramón

2006-01-01

To determine the frequency of drunk driving in professional drivers (Via Blanca, Havana City), we carried out a descriptive study of 832 drivers selected by multistage stratified sampling. A structured interview with each driver was carried out to record the variables under study, and a breath alcohol test was subsequently performed. The frequency of drunk driving was 8.18% (95% CI, 5.94%-10.42%), with a predominance of drivers with alcohol levelsDrunk driving was more frequent in "high risk" hours, in drivers aged between 40 and 49 years old (10.3%), and in those with 15 to 24 years of experience (11.02%). The frequency of drunk driving found in this study highlights the need to design traffic accident prevention strategies.

State of the art Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS).

NARCIS (Netherlands)

OEI, H.-L.

2017-01-01

An overview of state-of-the-art ADA Advanced Driver Assistance systems is given. First a main structuring system for the ADA systems is presented, needed for purposes of relevancy, and consistency : the three phases in the accident process, i.e. pre-crash, crash and post-crash; the driving task at

The Importance of Bloodstain Pattern Analysis in the Investigation of Road Traffic Accidents: A Case Report

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Younis M. Albalooshi

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Bloodstain pattern analysis has become a field of specialization in Forensic sciences and plays an important role in the reconstruction of events at a crime scene. Research, books, and articles have been published on the analysis and interpretation of bloodstain patterns We present a case study of a road traffic accident in which bloodstain pattern analysis helped us to solve the discrepancy between reports produced by forensic examiners and by the forensic biology department. The case was of a 22-year-old man who died immediately and a 31- year-old woman who survived a road traffic accident. They were both found outside their overturned car and it was impossible to ascertain from initial observations which of the victims was driving the car at the time of the accident. An external examination of the man revealed multiple injuries, and the cause of his death was severe brain injury. The woman survived with a fracture of the forearm, dislocated clavicle bone, and other minor injuries. After initial examination of the car and based on the pattern of injuries the deceased received, forensic examiner concluded that the man was the driving the car at the time of accident. On the other hand, the forensic DNA analysis of bloodstains obtained from the driver's seat matched that of the woman, suggesting that she was the driver. This apparent discrepancy directed the forensic examiner to carry out a bloodstain pattern analysis on the driver's seat. The bloodstain pattern analysis helped resolve the discrepancy and enabled the investigators to identify the driver correctly. This case report emphasizes the importance of bloodstain pattern analysis in the reconstruction of cases involving road traffic accidents.

Analysis of Roadway Traffic Accidents Based on Rough Sets and Bayesian Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaoxia Xiong

2018-02-01

Full Text Available The paper integrates Rough Sets (RS and Bayesian Networks (BN for roadway traffic accident analysis. RS reduction of attributes is first employed to generate the key set of attributes affecting accident outcomes, which are then fed into a BN structure as nodes for BN construction and accident outcome classification. Such RS-based BN framework combines the advantages of RS in knowledge reduction capability and BN in describing interrelationships among different attributes. The framework is demonstrated using the 100-car naturalistic driving data from Virginia Tech Transportation Institute to predict accident type. Comparative evaluation with the baseline BNs shows the RS-based BNs generally have a higher prediction accuracy and lower network complexity while with comparable prediction coverage and receiver operating characteristic curve area, proving that the proposed RS-based BN overall outperforms the BNs with/without traditional feature selection approaches. The proposed RS-based BN indicates the most significant attributes that affect accident types include pre-crash manoeuvre, driver’s attention from forward roadway to centre mirror, number of secondary tasks undertaken, traffic density, and relation to junction, most of which feature pre-crash driver states and driver behaviours that have not been extensively researched in literature, and could give further insight into the nature of traffic accidents.

A framework for safer driving in Mauritius

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. Bassoo

2017-12-01

Full Text Available According to the National Transport Authority (NTA, there were 493,081 registered vehicles in Mauritius in April 2016, which represents a 1.4% annual increase compared to 2015. Despite the sensitization campaigns and the series of measures setup by the Minister of Public Infrastructure and Land Transport, the number of road accidents continues to rise. The three main elements that contribute to accidents are: road infrastructure, vehicle and driver. The driver has the highest contribution in collisions. If the driver is given the right information (e.g. driving behaviour, accident-prone areas and vehicle status at the right time, he/she can make better driving decisions and react promptly to critical situations. This paper proposes a framework for safer driving in Mauritius that uses an on-board car diagnostic module (OBDII to collect data such as vehicle average speed, engine revolution and acceleration. This module relays the data to a cloud environment where an adaptive algorithm analyses the data and predicts driver behaviour in real-time. Based on driving behaviour, mobile alerts can be sent to the driver in the form of messages, voice commands or beeps. A survey was also carried out to evaluate the acceptance rate of such a framework by people of different age groups in Mauritius.

A comparison of the hazard perception ability of accident-involved and accident-free motorcycle riders.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Andy S K; Ng, Terry C K; Lee, Hoe C

2011-07-01

Hazard perception is the ability to read the road and is closely related to involvement in traffic accidents. It consists of both cognitive and behavioral components. Within the cognitive component, visual attention is an important function of driving whereas driving behavior, which represents the behavioral component, can affect the hazard perception of the driver. Motorcycle riders are the most vulnerable types of road user. The primary purpose of this study was to deepen our understanding of the correlation of different subtypes of visual attention and driving violation behaviors and their effect on hazard perception between accident-free and accident-involved motorcycle riders. Sixty-three accident-free and 46 accident-involved motorcycle riders undertook four neuropsychological tests of attention (Digit Vigilance Test, Color Trails Test-1, Color Trails Test-2, and Symbol Digit Modalities Test), filled out the Chinese Motorcycle Rider Driving Violation (CMRDV) Questionnaire, and viewed a road-user-based hazard situation with an eye-tracking system to record the response latencies to potentially dangerous traffic situations. The results showed that both the divided and selective attention of accident-involved motorcycle riders were significantly inferior to those of accident-free motorcycle riders, and that accident-involved riders exhibited significantly higher driving violation behaviors and took longer to identify hazardous situations compared to their accident-free counterparts. However, the results of the regression analysis showed that aggressive driving violation CMRDV score significantly predicted hazard perception and accident involvement of motorcycle riders. Given that all participants were mature and experienced motorcycle riders, the most plausible explanation for the differences between them is their driving style (influenced by an undesirable driving attitude), rather than skill deficits per se. The present study points to the importance of

Tacit Driving Knowledge, Emotional Intelligence, Stressful Events and Accident Risk: Traffic Safety Implications

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Legree, Peter

1999-01-01

... and the driver's internal or emotional state. The tests were administered with a battery of conventional cognitive tests, personality instruments and situational variables chosen to predict accident involvement...

Prevalence of sleep quality disorder among Iranian drivers: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Tabrizi, Reza; Moosazadeh, Mahmood; Razzaghi, Alireza; Akbari, Maryam; Heydari, Seyed Taghi; Kavari, Seyed Habibollah; Mani, Arash; Kazemi, Maryam; Bagheri Lankarani, Kamran

2018-01-01

Abstract: Background: Sleep Quality Disorder (SQD) plays a major role in road accidents. So, this study was carried out to determine the prevalence of SQD among occupational drivers using systematic review and meta-analysis in Iran. Methods: All Persian and English articles between January, 2000 and October, 2015 which had reported the SQD prevalence in Iranian drivers by Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) with cross-sectional design, after the quality evaluation process and achieving the required score, were selected. The heterogenic index of the studies was distinguished by using Cochran (Q) and I2 tests. Based on heterogeneity results, a random effects model was used to estimate pooled prevalence of SQD. Meta-regression was also used to investigate the heterogeneity of suspected factors. Results: In total, 936 articles were found from national and international databases. Ten articles entered to meta-analysis process, ultimately. Since heterogeneity index suggested that there is a consider-able heterogeneity among the results of primary studies (I-squared = 98.8%, Q= 754.1, p less than 0.001), the overall estimation of SQD among Iranian drivers was conducted using random-effects model and its rate was estimated to be 53.4% (95% CI: 38.9-67.8). Conclusions: Our study demonstrated that more than half of Iranian drivers have SQD. Identifying the drivers with SQD by periodic examinations and providing advice and health care among occupational drivers could be appropriate solutions for decreasing the accident risks. PMID:29362294

Shame-proneness in attempted suicide patients

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Wiklander Maria

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background It has been suggested that shame may be an important feature in suicidal behaviors. The disposition to react with shame, “shame-proneness”, has previously not been investigated in groups of attempted suicide patients. We examined shame-proneness in two groups of attempted suicide patients, one group of non-suicidal patients and one group of healthy controls. We hypothesized that the attempted suicide patients would be more shame-prone than non-suicidal patients and healthy controls. Methods The Test of Self-Conscious Affect (TOSCA, which is the most used measure of shame-proneness, was completed by attempted suicide patients (n = 175: 105 women and 3 men with borderline personality disorder [BPD], 45 women and 22 men without BPD, non-suicidal psychiatric patients (n = 162, and healthy controls (n = 161. The participants were convenience samples, with patients from three clinical research projects and healthy controls from a fourth research project. The relationship between shame-proneness and attempted suicide was studied with group comparisons and multiple regressions. Men and women were analyzed separately. Results Women were generally more shame-prone than men of the same participant group. Female suicide attempters with BPD were significantly more shame-prone than both female suicide attempters without BPD and female non-suicidal patients and controls. Male suicide attempters without BPD were significantly less shame-prone than non-suicidal male patients. In multiple regressions, shame-proneness was predicted by level of depression and BPD (but not by attempted suicide in female patients, and level of depression and non-suicidality in male patients. Conclusions Contrary to our hypothesis and related previous research, there was no general relationship between shame-proneness and attempted suicide. Shame-proneness was differentially related to attempted suicide in different groups of suicide attempters

Driver Drowsiness Warning System Using Visual Information for Both Diurnal and Nocturnal Illumination Conditions

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Flores MarcoJavier

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Every year, traffic accidents due to human errors cause increasing amounts of deaths and injuries globally. To help reduce the amount of fatalities, in the paper presented here, a new module for Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS which deals with automatic driver drowsiness detection based on visual information and Artificial Intelligence is presented. The aim of this system is to locate, track, and analyze both the drivers face and eyes to compute a drowsiness index, where this real-time system works under varying light conditions (diurnal and nocturnal driving. Examples of different images of drivers taken in a real vehicle are shown to validate the algorithms used.

Readmissions due to traffic accidents at a general hospital.

Science.gov (United States)

Paiva, Luciana; Monteiro, Damiana Aparecida Trindade; Pompeo, Daniele Alcalá; Ciol, Márcia Aparecida; Dantas, Rosana Aparecida Spadotti; Rossi, Lídia Aparecida

2015-01-01

to verify the occurrence and the causes of hospital readmissions within a year after discharge from hospitalizations due to traffic accidents. victims of multiple traumas due to traffic accidents were included, who were admitted to an Intensive Care Unit. Sociodemographic data, accident circumstances, body regions affected and cause of readmission were collected from the patient histories. among the 109 victims of traffic accidents, the majority were young and adult men. Most hospitalizations due to accidents involved motorcycle drivers (56.9%). The causes of the return to the hospital were: need to continue the surgical treatment (63.2%), surgical site infection (26.3%) and fall related to the physical sequelae of the trauma (10.5%). The rehospitalization rate corresponded to 174/1,000 people/year. the hospital readmission rate in the study population is similar to the rates found in other studies. Victims of severe limb traumas need multiple surgical procedures, lengthier hospitalizations and extended rehabilitation.

Readmissions due to traffic accidents at a general hospital

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Luciana Paiva

2015-08-01

Full Text Available AbstractObjective: to verify the occurrence and the causes of hospital readmissions within a year after discharge from hospitalizations due to traffic accidents.Methods: victims of multiple traumas due to traffic accidents were included, who were admitted to an Intensive Care Unit. Sociodemographic data, accident circumstances, body regions affected and cause of readmission were collected from the patient histories.Results: among the 109 victims of traffic accidents, the majority were young and adult men. Most hospitalizations due to accidents involved motorcycle drivers (56.9%. The causes of the return to the hospital were: need to continue the surgical treatment (63.2%, surgical site infection (26.3% and fall related to the physical sequelae of the trauma (10.5%. The rehospitalization rate corresponded to 174/1,000 people/year.Conclusion: the hospital readmission rate in the study population is similar to the rates found in other studies. Victims of severe limb traumas need multiple surgical procedures, lengthier hospitalizations and extended rehabilitation.

Fire-induced deforestation in drought-prone Mediterranean forests : drivers and unknowns from leaves to communities

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Karavani, Asaf; Boer, Matthias M.; Baudena, Mara|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/340303867; Colinas, Carlos; Díaz-Sierra, Rubén; Pemán, Jesús; de Luis, Martín; Enríquez-de-Salamanca, Álvaro; Resco de Dios, Víctor

Over the past 15 years, 3 million hectares of forests have been converted into shrublands or grasslands in the Mediterranean countries of the European Union. Fire and drought are the main drivers underlying this deforestation. Here we present a conceptual framework for the process of fire-induced

Impact Assessment of Effective Parameters on Drivers' Attention Level to Urban Traffic Signs

Science.gov (United States)

Kazemi, Mojtaba; Rahimi, Amir Masoud; Roshankhah, Sheida

2016-03-01

Traffic signs are one of the oldest safety and traffic control equipments. Drivers' reaction to installed signs is an important issue that could be studied using statistical models developed for target groups. There are 527 questionnaires have been filled up randomly in 45 days, some by drivers passing two northern cities of Iran and some by e-mail. Therefore, minimum sample size of 384 is fulfilled. In addition, Cronbach Alpha of more than 90 % verifies the questionnaire's validity. Ordinal logistic regression is used for 5-level answer variables. This relatively novel method predicts probability of different cases' considering other effective independent variables. There are 18 parameters of factor, man, vehicle, and environment are assessed and 5 parameters of number of accidents in last 5 years, occupation, driving time, number of accidents per day, and driving speed are eventually found as the most important ones. Age and gender, that are considered as key factors in other safety and accident studies, are not recognized as effective ones in this paper. The results could be useful for safety planning programs.

Attitudes of Greek Drivers with Focus on Mobile Phone Use While Driving.

Science.gov (United States)

Yannis, George; Theofilatos, Athanasios; Marinou, Paraskevi

2015-01-01

This article investigates the attitudes and behavior of Greek drivers with specific focus on mobile phone use while driving. The research is based on the data of the pan-European SARTRE 4 survey, which was conducted on a representative sample of Greek drivers in 2011. Analysis of the drivers' behavior was carried out by the statistical methods of factor and cluster analysis. According to the results of factor analysis, Greek drivers' responses in the selected questions were summarized into 4 factors, describing road behavior and accident involvement probability as well as their views on issues concerning other drivers' road behaviors, fatigued driving, enforcement of road safety, and mobile phone use while driving. The results of cluster analysis indicated 5 different groups of Greek drivers--the moderate, the optimistic, the conservative, the risky, and the reasonably cautious--and the characteristics of each group where identified. These results may be useful for the appropriate design of targeted road safety campaigns and other countermeasures.

Effects of Pay-As-You-Drive vehicle insurance on young drivers' speed choice : Results of a Dutch field experiment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bolderdijk, J.W.; Knockaert, J.; Steg, L.; Verhoef, E.T.

Speeding is an important cause for young drivers' involvement in traffic accidents. A reduction in driving speeds of this group could result in fewer accidents. One way of reducing driving speed is offering explicit financial incentives. In collaboration with five Dutch car insurance companies, we

An econometric analysis of the effects of the penalty points system driver's license in Spain.

Science.gov (United States)

Castillo-Manzano, José I; Castro-Nuño, Mercedes; Pedregal, Diego J

2010-07-01

This article seeks to quantify the effects of the penalty points system driver's license during the 18-month period following its coming into force. This is achieved by means of univariate and multivariate unobserved component models set up in a state space framework estimated using maximum likelihood. A detailed intervention analysis is carried out in order to test for the effects and their duration of the introduction of the penalty points system driver's license in Spain. Other variables, mainly indicators of the level of economic activity in Spain, are also considered. Among the main effects, we can mention an average reduction of almost 12.6% in the number of deaths in highway accidents. It would take at least 2 years for that effect to disappear. For the rest of the safety indicator variables (vehicle occupants injured in highway accidents and vehicle occupants injured in accidents built-up areas) the effects disappeared 1 year after the law coming into force. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Review of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS)

Science.gov (United States)

Ziebinski, Adam; Cupek, Rafal; Grzechca, Damian; Chruszczyk, Lukas

2017-11-01

New cars can be equipped with many advanced safety solutions. Airbags, seatbelts and all of the essential passive safety parts are standard equipment. Now cars are often equipped with new advanced active safety systems that can prevent accidents. The functions of the Advanced Driver Assistance Systems are still growing. A review of the most popular available technologies used in ADAS and descriptions of their application areas are discussed in this paper.

Identification and Prioritization of “Black Spots” without Using Accident Information

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Mahmoudreza Keymanesh

2017-01-01

Full Text Available It is attempted to identify and prioritize the accident prone points (black spots in “Iraanshahr-Sarbaaz-Chabahar” road located in Baluchistan, Iran, without no use of accident data but rather using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP, which is the enhanced procedure of road safety audit technique. First, by surveying the whole route, all factors that could influence accidents in this road were specified; then the route was divided into eight sections; this division was performed based on the uniformity and homogeny of each section in terms of geometric design and regional conditions. In each section, potentially hazardous locations were identified and some questionnaires were prepared, which were filled by 5 road traffic experts familiar with the route; then the collected data were analyzed by Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP using Expert Choice Software and the black spots were identified and prioritized. Finally, these black spots were compared with the black spots that had been obtained by traffic police based on accident data.

The Effects of the Daily Driven Distance and Age Factor on the Traffic Accidents

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Figen Ş. KALYONCUOĞLU

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Based on Turkish traffic survey data (n=5,520, driver accident rates per million kilometre-driver were compared according to the daily driven distances (DDD for each age group as very old (65+, n=39, old (56-65, n=183, above middle-aged (36-55, n=1,875, middle-aged (26-35, n=2,204, and young (25-, n=1,219. When the accidents-per-km comparison was made in groups matched for daily exposure, there was no evidence of higher risk with increasing age. In all age groups, risk per km decreased with increasing daily driving distance. With this study the accident involvement prediction models have been obtained related to the daily driven distance with and without considering age. These models have been applied to some earlier studies. The results are quite satisfactory. The set of data of this study and the analysis controlling the daily (yearly driving distance might make the “age” effect disappear.

Associating crash avoidance maneuvers with driver attributes and accident characteristics: a mixed logit model approach

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kaplan, Sigal; Prato, Carlo Giacomo

2012-01-01

from the key role of proactive and state-aware road users within the concept of sustainable safety systems, as well as from the key role of effective corrective maneuvers in the success of automated in-vehicle warning and driver assistance systems. Methods: The analysis is conducted by means of a mixed...... about the risks of driving under fatigue and distraction being comparable to the risks of driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs. Moreover, the results suggest the need to educate drivers about hazard perception, designing a forgiving infrastructure within a sustainable safety systems......Objective: The current study focuses on the propensity of drivers to engage in crash avoidance maneuvers in relation to driver attributes, critical events, crash characteristics, vehicles involved, road characteristics, and environmental conditions. The importance of avoidance maneuvers derives...

Predictors of Self-reported Crashes among Iranian Drivers: Exploratory Analysis of an Extended Driver Behavior Questionnaire

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Amin Mohamadi Hezaveh

2018-02-01

Full Text Available More than 16,500 people lose their lives each year due to traffic crashes in Iran, which reflects one of the highest road traffic fatality rates in the world. The aim of the present study is to investigate the factors structure of an extended Driver Behaviour Questionnaire (DBQ and to examine the gender differences in the extracted factors among Iranian drivers. Further, the study tested the association between DBQ factors, demographic characteristics, and self-reported crashes. Based on Iranian driving culture, an extended (36 items Internet-based version of the DBQ was distributed among Iranian drivers. The results of Exploratory Factor Analysis based on a sample of 632 Iranians identified a five-factor solution named “Speeding and Pushing Violations”, “Lapses and Errors”, “Violations Causing Inattention”, “Aggressive Violations” and “Traffic Violations” which account for 44.7 percent of the total variance. The results also revealed that females were more prone to Lapses and Errors, whereas males reported more violations than females. Logistic regression analysis identified Violations Causing Inattention, Speeding and Pushing Violations as predictors of self-reported crashes in a three-year period. The results were discussed in line with road traffic safety countermeasures suitable for the Iranian context.

A quarter of a century of the DBQ: some supplementary notes on its validity with regard to accidents.

Science.gov (United States)

de Winter, Joost C F; Dodou, Dimitra; Stanton, Neville A

2015-01-01

This article synthesises the latest information on the relationship between the Driver Behaviour Questionnaire (DBQ) and accidents. We show by means of computer simulation that correlations with accidents are necessarily small because accidents are rare events. An updated meta-analysis on the zero-order correlations between the DBQ and self-reported accidents yielded an overall r of .13 (fixed-effect and random-effects models) for violations (57,480 participants; 67 samples) and .09 (fixed-effect and random-effects models) for errors (66,028 participants; 56 samples). An analysis of a previously published DBQ dataset (975 participants) showed that by aggregating across four measurement occasions, the correlation coefficient with self-reported accidents increased from .14 to .24 for violations and from .11 to .19 for errors. Our meta-analysis also showed that DBQ violations (r = .24; 6353 participants; 20 samples) but not DBQ errors (r = - .08; 1086 participants; 16 samples) correlated with recorded vehicle speed. Practitioner Summary: The DBQ is probably the most widely used self-report questionnaire in driver behaviour research. This study shows that DBQ violations and errors correlate moderately with self-reported traffic accidents.

Aspects Concerning The Rules And The Investigation Of Traffic Accidents As Work Accidents

Science.gov (United States)

Tarnu, Lucian Ioan

2015-07-01

When Romania joined the European Union, it was imposed that the Romanian legislation in the field of the security and health at work be in line with the European one. The concept of health as it is defined by the International Body of Health, refers to a good physical, mental and social condition. The improvement of the activity of preventing the traffic accidents as work accidents must have as basis the correct and accurate evaluation of risks of getting injured. The goal of the activity of prevention and protection is to ensure the best working conditions, the prevention of accidents and occupational diseases and the adjustment to the scientific and technological progress. In the road transport sector, as in any other sector, it is very important to pay attention to working conditions to ensure a workforce motivated and well qualified. Some features make it a more difficult sector risk management than other sectors. However, if one takes into account how it works in practice this sector and the characteristics of drivers and how they work routinely, risks, dangers and threats can be managed efficiently and with great success.

Extent and variations in mobile phone use among drivers of heavy vehicles in Denmark.

Science.gov (United States)

Troglauer, Thomas; Hels, Tove; Christens, Peter Falck

2006-01-01

A substantial body of research has shown that use of mobile phones while driving can impair driving performance and increase the risk of being involved in accidents. Similarly, mobile phone use seems to be an increasing activity thus representing a relevant traffic safety issue. This paper investigates the extent and variations in mobile phone use among drivers of heavy vehicles in Denmark. The data was collected through written questionnaires and had a response rate of 58%. It was found that more than 99% of the drivers used mobile phones while driving. Despite a prohibition of hand-held mobile phone use while driving 31% of the drivers reported to do so. Analysis of the variations in usage found a positive significant relationship between driving hours and phone use. A negative linear effect was found between age and phone use. Similarly, a positive significant association was found between the number of stops and the amount of phone use. 0.5% reported that their use of mobile phones had contributed to an accident, while 6% had experienced their mobile phone use causing a dangerous situation. However, 66% reported experiencing dangerous situations because of others road users' mobile phone use. Various implications of the findings are discussed particularly in relation to the drivers with high exposure.

Economic burden of motorcycle accidents in Northern Ghana.

Science.gov (United States)

Kudebong, M; Wurapa, F; Nonvignon, J; Norman, I; Awoonor-Williams, J K; Aikins, M

2011-12-01

Motorcycles are the most popular means of transportation in northern Ghana, and their accidents are major causes of out-patient attendance and admissions in the Bolgatanga Municipality. This paper estimates the economic burden of motorcycle accidents in the Bolgatanga Municipality in Northern Ghana. Retrospective cross-sectional cost study. Data were collected from Drivers and Vehicle Licensing Authority, the Police, health facilities and motorcycle accident victims. Both quantitative and qualitative approaches were used for data collection. Cost analysis was based on the standard road accident cost conceptual framework. Ninety-eight percent of vehicles registered in the municipality in 2004 - 2008 were motorcycles. The motorcycles were significantly more than the cars registered. The economic burden of motorcycle accidents was estimated to be about US$1.2 million, of which, 52% were accident-related costs (i.e. property damage and administration) and 48% casualty-related costs (i.e. medical costs, out-of-pocket expenses, lost labour outputs, intangible costs and funeral expenses). Most motorcycle accident victims were in their productive ages and were males. Only a third of the motorcycles were insured. Majority of the riders (71%) did not possess valid driving license and would want to avoid the police. Main motorcycle injuries were head injuries, fractures, lacerations and contusions. Majority of the accidents were caused by lack of formal motorcycle riding training, abuse of alcohol, unrestrained animals and donkey carts. Motorcycle accidents could be reduced through law enforcement, continuous mass education and helmet use.

Effectiveness of two interventions in preventing traffic accidents: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Porchia, B R; Baldasseroni, A; Dellisanti, C; Lorini, C; Bonaccorsi, G

2014-01-01

The prevention of road traffic accidents should be considered a serious public health concern, since they are the eighth leading cause of death globally and the main cause of death for young people aged 15-29. Evidences from many countries show that successes in preventing road traffic injuries can be achieved through concerted efforts at national level. The aim of our study was to assess the effectiveness of two interventions to prevent road traffic accidents: the introduction of graduated driver licensing (GDL) and the interventions to improve pedestrian and cyclist visibility. Our search started with a scoping review on the interventions to prevent road traffic accidents to allow the development of a logical framework of traffic accidents. Specific and answerable questions formulated according to PICO scheme and combinations of keywords were used to perform a systematic search in the following databases: Pubmed, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE), Health Evidence, Transport Research International Documentation (TRID) and Google. References of selected papers were searched. Only systematic reviews and meta-analyses were eligible. No temporal limits or linguistic filters were applied. 160 systematic reviews and meta-analyses were found for the question of the introduction of GDL program and 188 on the improvement of visibility in cyclists and pedestrians. After selection, four papers were included in qualitative synthesis for each question. All included studies underwent quality evaluation. GDL programs seem to be effective in reducing crash rates among young drivers, in particular in 16 year-old. Programs with more restrictions seem also to reduce fatal events. To improve visibility of pedestrians and cyclists, street lighting has been suggested as an intervention able to improve driver's visual capabilities and ability to detect roadway hazards and to prevent car crashes. Visibility aids (fluorescent

DATA ANALYSIS OF TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS AND THEIR CAUSES IN GOMEL FOR 2013 AND 2014

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S. A. Azemsha

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Measures undertaken for improvement of road traffic safety presuppose clampdown on violation of road traffic regulations but no attention is paid to the fact that there is no possibility to ensure road traffic safety due to inconformity of roads to the modern safety requirements. Therefore reduction in accident rate is connected with some changes in approaches to designing, construction and maintenance of roads. Nowadays when the number of automobiles is extremely large and their number is increasing with every passing year driver’s professionalism becomes the most significant factor. In these circumstances the professionalism is demonstrated not so much while driving in bad road conditions as it was previously but the professionalism is more revealed in the case when it is necessary to drive in conditions of large workloads and high manoeuvring rate when a special important role is given to the capability to forecast a situation, in other words the capability to read the road. Moral climate on the road is no less important as well and it practically fully depends on a driver.The paper contains an analysis of the Gomel traffic police data on quantitative distribution of road traffic accidents and their victims according to the time of day and month, lighting conditions, weather conditions, age and sex factors, types of violations. Situations of traffic behavior, motivations of drivers and road users, drivers training have been shown in terms of impact on the road traffic accident risk. The paper considers a human factor which rather often causes an accident. An evaluation has been given to such factor as road speed of transport facilities which exerts a significant influence on an accident risk and its severity.

Serum Antibody Response to Five Streptococcus pneumoniae Proteins during Acute Otitis Media in Otitis Prone and Non-Otitis Prone Children

Science.gov (United States)

Kaur, Ravinder; Casey, Janet R.; Pichichero, Michael E.

2011-01-01

Background Streptococcus pneumoniae (Spn) is one of the common bacteria responsible for episodic acute otitis media (AOM; non-otitis prone), recurrent AOM (otitis-prone) and AOM treatment failure (AOMTF) in children. Objective From a population of 268 children we sought to compare the serum IgG antibody titers to five different Spn proteins (PhtD, LytB, PcpA, PhtE and Ply) that are vaccine candidates in children with episodic AOM (n=34), who were otitis prone (n=35), and who had AOMTF (n=25) caused by Spn. Methods Antibody was quantitated by ELISA. Results At their acute AOM visit, anti-PhtD, -LytB, -PhtE and −Ply IgG antibody titers in otitis-prone children were significantly lower compared to non-otitis prone children (p otitis-prone, AOMTF and non-otitis prone children had no significant change in geometric mean IgG antibody titers against the five proteins (except for PhtE in children with AOMTF), but detailed analysis showed that about one-third of the children in each cohort had a 2-fold rise in antibody to the studied antigens. While non-otitis prone children had significant increases (p otitis-prone children either failed to show rises or the rises were significantly less than the non-otitis prone children. Conclusion Otitis-prone and AOMTF children mount less of an IgG serum antibody response than non-otitis prone children to Spn proteins following AOM and nasopharyngeal colonization. PMID:21487325

Young people and snowmobiling in northern Norway: accidents, injury prevention and safety strategies.

Science.gov (United States)

Mehus, Grete; Mehus, Alf Gunnar; Germeten, Sidsel; Henriksen, Nils

2016-01-01

Snowmobiling among young people in Scandinavia frequently leads to accidents and injuries. Systematic studies of accidents exist, but few studies have addressed young drivers' experiences. The aim of this article is to reveal how young people experience and interpret accidents, and to outline a prevention strategy. Thirty-one girls and 50 boys aged 16-23 years from secondary schools in Northern Norway and on Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, participated in 17 focus groups segregated by gender. A content analysis identified themes addressing the research questions. Participants described risk as being inherent to snowmobiling, and claimed that accidents followed from poor risk assessment, careless driving or mishaps. Evaluation of accidents and recommendations for preventive measures varied. Girls acknowledged the risks and wanted knowledge about outdoor life, navigation and external risks. Boys underestimated or downplayed the risks, and wanted knowledge about safety precautions while freeriding. Both genders were aware of how and why accidents occurred, and took precautions. Boys tended to challenge norms in ways that contradict the promotion of safe driving behaviour. Stories of internal justice regarding driving under the influence of alcohol occurred. Adolescents are aware of how accidents occur and how to avoid them. Injury prevention strategies should include a general population strategy and a high-risk strategy targeted at extreme risk-seekers. Drivers, snowmobilers' organisations and the community should share local knowledge in an effort to define problem areas, set priorities and develop and implement preventive measures. Risk prevention should include preparation of safe tracks and focus on safety equipment and safe driving behaviour, but should also pay increased attention to the potential of strengthening normative regulation within peer groups regarding driving behaviour and mutual responsibility for preventing accidents.

Fatal motorcycle accidents and alcohol

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, C F; Hardt-Madsen, M

1987-01-01

A series of fatal motorcycle accidents from a 7-year period (1977-1983) has been analyzed. Of the fatalities 30 were operators of the motorcycle, 11 pillion passengers and 8 counterparts. Of 41 operators 37% were sober at the time of accident, 66% had measurable blood alcohol concentration (BAC......); 59% above 0.08%. In all cases where a pillion passenger was killed, the operator of the motorcycle had a BAC greater than 0.08%. Of the killed counterparts 2 were non-intoxicated, 2 had a BAC greater than 0.08%, and 4 were not tested. The results advocate that the law should restrict alcohol...... consumption by pillion passengers as well as by the motorcycle operator. Suggestions made to extend the data base needed for developing appropriate alcohol countermeasures by collecting sociodemographic data on drivers killed or seriously injured should be supported....

Low level waste shipment accident lessons learned

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rast, D.M.; Rowe, J.G.; Reichel, C.W.

1995-01-01

On October 1, 1994 a shipment of low-level waste from the Fernald Environmental Management Project, Fernald, Ohio, was involved in an accident near Rolla, Missouri. The accident did not result in the release of any radioactive material. The accident did generate important lessons learned primarily in the areas of driver and emergency response communications. The shipment was comprised of an International Standards Organization (ISO) container on a standard flatbed trailer. The accident caused the low-level waste package to separate from the trailer and come to rest on its top in the median. The impact of the container with the pavement and median inflicted relatively minor damage to the container. The damage was not substantial enough to cause failure of container integrity. The success of the package is attributable to the container design and the packaging procedures used at the Fernald Environmental Management Project for low-level waste shipments. Although the container survived the initial wreck, is was nearly breached when the first responders attempted to open the ISO container. Even though the container was clearly marked and the shipment documentation was technically correct, this information did not identify that the ISO container was the primary containment for the waste. The lessons learned from this accident have DOE complex wide applicability. This paper is intended to describe the accident, subsequent emergency response operations, and the lessons learned from this incident

Analyzing the severity of accidents on the German Autobahn.

Science.gov (United States)

Manner, Hans; Wünsch-Ziegler, Laura

2013-08-01

We study the severity of accidents on the German Autobahn in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia using data for the years 2009 until 2011. We use a multinomial logit model to identify statistically relevant factors explaining the severity of the most severe injury, which is classified into the four classes fatal, severe injury, light injury and property damage. Furthermore, to account for unobserved heterogeneity we use a random parameter model. We study the effect of a number of factors including traffic information, road conditions, type of accidents, speed limits, presence of intelligent traffic control systems, age and gender of the driver and location of the accident. Our findings are in line with studies in different settings and indicate that accidents during daylight and at interchanges or construction sites are less severe in general. Accidents caused by the collision with roadside objects, involving pedestrians and motorcycles, or caused by bad sight conditions tend to be more severe. We discuss the measures of the 2011 German traffic safety programm in the light of our results. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Epidemiological study of road traffic accident cases in Greater Noida: Hospital Based Study

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Rupali Roy

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Road accidents are associated with numerous problems each of which needs to be addressed separately [1]. Accidents, therefore, can be studied in terms of agent, host and environmental factors and epidemiologically classified into time, place and person distribution [2]. Objectives: 1.To assess the prevalence of RTAs coming to hospital and 2.To know the epidemiological factors related to RTAs and associated prevalence in hospital based study. Methodology: This cross sectional study was conducted at SMSR, Gr Noida, in 2012. The study group consisted of all the RTA victims reporting to casualty in the last one year. The victims of the accidents were interviewed on a pretested semi structured performa. Results: In that one year period total number of reported accident cases was 144. The age groups of the study subjects were between 13-65 years. Out of total study subjects, only 16 were female. Again out of the total accident cases 45% were attended by police and of all injured, 45.8% were driver by occupation (7% without driving license. Among these drivers, 11% were not attentive during driving because of various reasons. Ambulance services had reached in 46.5% cases. Fracture was the most common type (60% of injury among all types of injuries. Among the applicable population only 33% wore helmet or seat belts. Conclusions: Only half of the total accident cases were attended by police and again only half of them received ambulance services. One third injuries were because of not wearing seat belt and helmets.

Epidemiological study of road traffic accident cases in Greater Noida: Hospital Based Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rupali Roy

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Road accidents are associated with numerous problems each of which needs to be addressed separately [1]. Accidents, therefore, can be studied in terms of agent, host and environmental factors and epidemiologically classified into time, place and person distribution [2]. Objectives: 1.To assess the prevalence of RTAs coming to hospital and 2.To know the epidemiological factors related to RTAs and associated prevalence in hospital based study. Methodology: This cross sectional study was conducted at SMSR, Gr Noida, in 2012. The study group consisted of all the RTA victims reporting to casualty in the last one year. The victims of the accidents were interviewed on a pretested semi structured performa. Results: In that one year period total number of reported accident cases was 144. The age groups of the study subjects were between 13-65 years. Out of total study subjects, only 16 were female. Again out of the total accident cases 45% were attended by police and of all injured, 45.8% were driver by occupation (7% without driving license. Among these drivers, 11% were not attentive during driving because of various reasons. Ambulance services had reached in 46.5% cases. Fracture was the most common type (60% of injury among all types of injuries. Among the applicable population only 33% wore helmet or seat belts. Conclusions: Only half of the total accident cases were attended by police and again only half of them received ambulance services. One third injuries were because of not wearing seat belt and helmets.

Behavioral Impact of Graduated Driver Licensing on Teenage Driving Risk and Exposure1

Science.gov (United States)

Karaca-Mandic, Pinar; Ridgeway, Greg

2009-01-01

Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) is a critical policy tool for potentially improving teenage driving while reducing teen accident exposure. While previous studies demonstrated that GDL reduces teenage involvement in fatal crashes, much remains unanswered. We explore the mechanisms through which GDL influences accident rates as well as its long term effectiveness on teen driving. In particular, we investigate; 1) whether GDL policies improve teenage driving behavior, or simply reduce teenage prevalence on the roads; 2) whether GDL exposed teens become better drivers in later years. We employ a unique data source, the State Data System, which contains all police reported accidents (fatal and non-fatal) during 1990–2005 for twelve states. We estimate a structural model that separately identifies GDL s effect on relative teenage prevalence and relative teenage riskiness. Identification of the model is driven by the relative numbers of crashes between two teenagers, two adults, or a teenager and an adult. We find that the GDL policies reduce the number of 15–17 year-old accidents by limiting the amount of teenage driving rather than by improving teenage driving. This prevalence reduction primarily occurs at night and stricter GDL policies, especially those with nighttime driving restrictions, are the most effective. Finally, we find that teen driving quality does not improve ex-post GDL exposure. PMID:19942310

Annual mileage, driving violations, and accident involvement in relation to drivers' sex, age, and level of education

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lourens, PF; Vissers, JAMM; Jessurun, M

The paper presents results of some analyses on a Dutch database that contains disaggregated data on both the traffic system input variables of the driver population (characteristics of drivers, including their annual mileage) and the output variables of the driver population in terms of habitual

Young drivers' perception of adult and child pedestrians in potential street-crossing situations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Abele, Liva; Haustein, Sonja; Møller, Mette

2018-01-01

Despite overall improvements in road traffic safety, pedestrian accidents continue to be a serious public health problem. Due to lack of experience, limited cognitive and motoric skills, and smaller size, children have a higher injury risk as pedestrians than adults. To what extent drivers adjust...... that appropriately accounts for the limitations of a child pedestrian. A better understanding of how drivers respond to different types of pedestrians and why could contribute to the development of pedestrian detection and emergency braking systems....

Peer influence on speeding behaviour among male drivers aged 18 and 28.

Science.gov (United States)

Møller, Mette; Haustein, Sonja

2014-03-01

Despite extensive research, preventive efforts and general improvements in road safety levels, the accident risk of young male drivers remains increased. Based on a standardized survey of a random sample of 2018 male drivers at the age of 18 and 28, this study looked into attitudes and behaviours related to traffic violations of male drivers. More specifically, the role of peer influence on speeding was examined in both age groups. In regression analyses it could be shown that the descriptive subjective norm, i.e., the perception of friends' speeding, was the most important predictor of speeding in both age groups. Other significant factors were: negative attitude towards speed limits, injunctive subjective norm, and the perceived risk of having an accident when speeding. In the older age group it was more common to drive faster than allowed and their speeding was largely in line with the perceived level of their friends' speeding. In the younger age group a higher discrepancy between own and friends' speeding was found indicating that young male drivers are socialized into increased speeding behaviour based on peer pressure. By contrast for the 28-year-olds peer pressure mainly seems to maintain or justify individual speeding behaviour. It is suggested that preventive measures should take these different influences of peer pressure into account by using a peer-based approach for the 18-year-olds and a more individual approach for the 28-year-olds. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Associating Crash Avoidance Maneuvers with Driver Attributes and Accident Characteristics: A Mixed Logit Model Approach

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kaplan, Sigal; Prato, Carlo Giacomo

2012-01-01

as from the key role of the ability of drivers to perform effective corrective maneuvers for the success of automated in-vehicle warning and driver assistance systems. The analysis is conducted by means of a mixed logit model that accommodates correlations across alternatives and heteroscedasticity. Data...

The efficacy of a first aid training course for drivers: an experience from northern Iran.

Science.gov (United States)

Vakili, Mohammad Ali; Mohjervatan, Ali; Heydari, Seyed Taghi; Akbarzadeh, Armin; Hosini, Nazanin Sadat; Alizad, Farideh; Arasteh, Peyman; Moghasemi, Mohammad Javad

2014-01-01

To evaluate the efficacy of a first aid training course for a group of drivers. This study comprised 500 drivers, randomly selected from the road transport companies. They underwent a course of first aid training and the results were evaluated at 0-3 and 4-6 months after training. Both quantitative and qualitative improvements were observed in the drivers'efficacy in giving first aid. Also the rate of correct interventions was higher at 4-6 months than at 0-3 months. The exception was airway management which was not favorably improved after training. The first aid training course for drivers is beneficial and helpful for prehospital care system in road traffic accidents.

Reliability prediction for the vehicles equipped with advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS and passive safety systems (PSS

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Balbir S. Dhillon

2012-10-01

Full Text Available The human error has been reported as a major root cause in road accidents in today’s world. The human as a driver in road vehicles composed of human, mechanical and electrical components is constantly exposed to changing surroundings (e.g., road conditions, environmentwhich deteriorate the driver’s capacities leading to a potential accident. The auto industries and transportation authorities have realized that similar to other complex and safety sensitive transportation systems, the road vehicles need to rely on both advanced technologies (i.e., Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS and Passive Safety Systems (PSS (e.g.,, seatbelts, airbags in order to mitigate the risk of accidents and casualties. In this study, the advantages and disadvantages of ADAS as active safety systems as well as passive safety systems in road vehicles have been discussed. Also, this study proposes models that analyze the interactions between human as a driver and ADAS Warning and Crash Avoidance Systems and PSS in the design of vehicles. Thereafter, the mathematical models have been developed to make reliability prediction at any given time on the road transportation for vehicles equipped with ADAS and PSS. Finally, the implications of this study in the improvement of vehicle designs and prevention of casualties are discussed.

Crash risk and aberrant driving behaviors among bus drivers: the role of personality and attitudes towards traffic safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Mallia, Luca; Lazuras, Lambros; Violani, Cristiano; Lucidi, Fabio

2015-06-01

Several studies have shown that personality traits and attitudes toward traffic safety predict aberrant driving behaviors and crash involvement. However, this process has not been adequately investigated in professional drivers, such as bus drivers. The present study used a personality-attitudes model to assess whether personality traits predicted aberrant self-reported driving behaviors (driving violations, lapses, and errors) both directly and indirectly, through the effects of attitudes towards traffic safety in a large sample of bus drivers. Additionally, the relationship between aberrant self-reported driving behaviors and crash risk was also assessed. Three hundred and one bus drivers (mean age=39.1, SD=10.7 years) completed a structured and anonymous questionnaire measuring personality traits, attitudes toward traffic safety, self-reported aberrant driving behaviors (i.e., errors, lapses, and traffic violations), and accident risk in the last 12 months. Structural equation modeling analysis revealed that personality traits were associated to aberrant driving behaviors both directly and indirectly. In particular altruism, excitement seeking, and normlessness directly predicted bus drivers' attitudes toward traffic safety which, in turn, were negatively associated with the three types of self-reported aberrant driving behaviors. Personality traits relevant to emotionality directly predicted bus drivers' aberrant driving behaviors, without any mediation of attitudes. Finally, only self-reported violations were related to bus drivers' accident risk. The present findings suggest that the hypothesized personality-attitudes model accounts for aberrant driving behaviors in bus drivers, and provide the empirical basis for evidence-based road safety interventions in the context of public transport. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Factors associated with road accidents in the city of Lubumbashi].

Science.gov (United States)

Kandolo, Simon Ilunga; Matungulu, Charles Matungulu; Mukanya, Pascal Kimba; Umba, Irène Kabange; Kabamba, Julie Ndayi; Numbi, Oscar Luboya; Ilunga, Benjamin Kabyla; Kaj, Françoise Malonga; Lubaba, Célestin Banza; Ngongo, Ghislain Mashini

2014-01-01

We conducted a retrospective non-comparative cross-sectional study in Lubumbashi on factors associated with road accidents. To contribute to the reduction of morbidity and mortality related to road accidents based on a better understanding of this phenomenon in the city of Lubumbashi, to assess the frequency and the growth of road accidents in the city of Lubumbashi and to determine the factors predisposing to these accidents. This non-controlled retrospective cross-sectional descriptive study covered the period from 1st January to 31st December 2008, and included all cases of vehicles registered by the police department after an accident. A total of 1,915 road traffic were reported, mostly caused by public transport vehicles (59%) driven by young adult males (89% of cases) with a mean age of 28 years. The main cause was speeding combined with other factors (34% of cases). The majority of these accidents occurred in the city of Lubumbashi (52.9% of cases) between 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. (74% of cases). Transit vehicles were exposed to a greater risk of road accidents (59%). There is an urgent need for accurate information on the rules of the road for drivers and road users to reduce the mortality and morbidity due to road accidents.

Complaints of Poor Sleep and Risk of Traffic Accidents: A Population-Based Case-Control Study.

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Pierre Philip

Full Text Available This study aimed to determine the sleepiness-related factors associated with road traffic accidents.A population based case-control study was conducted in 2 French agglomerations. 272 road accident cases hospitalized in emergency units and 272 control drivers matched by time of day and randomly stopped by police forces were included in the study. Odds ratios were calculated for the risk of road traffic accidents.As expected, the main predictive factor for road traffic accidents was having a sleep episode at the wheel just before the accident (OR 9.97, CI 95%: 1.57-63.50, p<0.05. The increased risk of traffic accidents was 3.35 times higher in subjects who reported very poor quality sleep during the last 3 months (CI 95%: 1.30-8.63, p<0.05, 1.69 times higher in subjects reporting sleeping 6 hours or fewer per night during the last 3 months (CI 95%: 1.00-2.85, p<0.05, 2.02 times higher in subjects reporting symptoms of anxiety or nervousness in the previous day (CI 95%: 1.03-3.97, p<0.05, and 3.29 times higher in subjects reporting taking more than 2 medications in the last 24 h (CI 95%: 1.14-9.44, p<0.05. Chronic daytime sleepiness measured by the Epworth Sleepiness Scale, expressed heavy snoring and nocturnal leg movements did not explain traffic accidents.Physicians should be attentive to complaints of poor sleep quality and quantity, symptoms of anxiety-nervousness and/or drug consumption in regular car drivers.

Studying the Epidemiology of Fatal Traffic Accidents in the Khuzestan Province

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Rajaei Behbahani

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Background Traffic accidents with about 1.24 million deaths and 20 to 50 million cases of injury or disability per year are one of the most important public health challenges around the world. In Iran, traffic accidents, with an annual incidence of 32 cases per 100 thousand people, are considered as the second leading cause of death and the most common cause of injury. Objectives This study aimed to evaluate the epidemiological pattern and mortality rate caused by traffic accidents during year 2012 in the Khuzestan province and its cities. Materials and Methods In this cross-sectional study, all data related to fatal traffic accident referrals to legal medicine center of Khuzestan province during year 2012 were obtained and analyzed. Road traffic accidents mortality rate during this year was calculated for the province and its cities. The data were analyzed using Stata 11 statistical software. Results In 2012, one thousand and twenty deaths related to traffic accidents occurred in Khuzestan province. The incidence of deaths due to accidents in Khuzestan province was 22.5 and the standardized age of incidence was 24.3 per 100 thousand people. Regarding gender, 78.24% of the dead individuals were male and 21.76% were female. The most common final causes of death were head trauma (76.27% cases and bleeding (12.55% cases. The most deceased people were drivers (42.55%, passengers (34.90%, and pedestrians (21.27%. The highest traffic accidents mortality rate in Khuzestan province was observed in Hoveizeh (55.43 per one hundred thousand, Omidiye (55.30 per one hundred thousand and Ramhormuz (53.12 per one hundred thousand, and the lowest incidence rates belonged to Lali (5.35 per one hundred thousand and Shadegan (9.78 per one hundred thousand. Conclusions This study showed that drivers, passengers and pedestrians were the most vulnerable road users. Regarding the fact that most of them were illiterate or had primary education and were self-employed or

Assessment of early onset of driver fatigue using multimodal fatigue measures in a static simulator.

Science.gov (United States)

Jagannath, M; Balasubramanian, Venkatesh

2014-07-01

Driver fatigue is an important contributor to road accidents. This paper reports a study that evaluated driver fatigue using multimodal fatigue measures, i.e., surface electromyography (sEMG), electroencephalography (EEG), seat interface pressure, blood pressure, heart rate and oxygen saturation level. Twenty male participants volunteered in this study by performing 60 min of driving on a static simulator. Results from sEMG showed significant physical fatigue (ρ fatigue. This will help us understand the influence of physical and mental fatigue on driver during monotonous driving. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

[Determinant factors and conduct in post-accident with biological material among pre-hospital professionals].

Science.gov (United States)

Paiva, Maria Henriqueta Rocha Siqueira; Oliveira, Adriana Cristina

2011-01-01

This transversal study was carried out with a multiprofessional team in the pre-hospital care in Minas Gerais, Brazil. It aimed to estimate the incidence of occupational accidents by exposure to biological material and post-accidents conductsta. Descriptive analysis and logistic regression were used. Incidence of accidents was 19.8%: 39,1% perforating-cutting materials and 56.5% body fluids. Doctors (33.3%) and drivers (24.0%) were most involved. Inadequate subsequent measures were highly prevalent: no medical assessment (69.6%), no work accident communication issued (91.3%), no measures (52.2%) and no serological follow-up (52.2%). Variables associated with accidents were: age >31 years old (OR = 3,02; IC95%: 1,25 - 7,33; p = 0,014) and working in basic support units (OR = 5,36; IC95%: 1,51 19,08; p = 0,010). The implementation of post-accidents protocols is suggested in order to reduce accidents and under-notification, and increase post-accident follow-up.

A path-following driver/vehicle model with optimized lateral dynamic controller

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Behrooz Mashadi

Full Text Available Reduction in traffic congestion and overall number of accidents, especially within the last decade, can be attributed to the enormous progress in active safety. Vehicle path following control with the presence of driver commands can be regarded as one of the important issues in vehicle active safety systems development and more realistic explanation of vehicle path tracking problem. In this paper, an integrated driver/DYC control system is presented that regulates the steering angle and yaw moment, considering driver previewed path. Thus, the driver previewed distance, the heading error and the lateral deviation between the vehicle and desired path are used as inputs. Then, the controller determines and applies a corrective steering angle and a direct yaw moment to make the vehicle follow the desired path. A PID controller with optimized gains is used for the control of integrated driver/DYC system. Genetic Algorithm as an intelligent optimization method is utilized to adapt PID controller gains for various working situations. Proposed integrated driver/DYC controller is examined on lane change manuvers andthe sensitivity of the control system is investigated through the changes in the driver model and vehicle parameters. Simulation results show the pronounced effectiveness of the controller in vehicle path following and stability.

Education Free Virtual Massfor the Prevention of Road Accidents in Ambato

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Fredy Maximiliano Jordán Cordones

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Traffic accidents is a problem of a global nature, the World Health Organization in its 2009 report notes that are 1.2 million deaths a year from this cause, also indicates that the prevention of traffic accidents involves a wide range of measures where education is a fundamental pillar. In Ecuador the situation is the same, by 2014 more than 35000 traffic incidents were reported This project proposes a process of massive virtual training on issues related to traffic laws, signs and statistics in order to achieve an awareness among drivers, and based on this reduce accident rates. Is taken as a case study, driving schools Trade Union of Professional Drivers of Tungurahua, a population had to investigate comprising students of these training centers, this population is 1600 people, we worked with a sample that arrived 350 people. The study based on surveys, it was concluded that there are several factors to traffic accidents, but the most common are: speeding, driving inebriated, little caution and fatigue, it was also concluded that all people are willing to receive training processes in person or virtual. After the study, the MOOC was implemented located in the http://cursos.cedia.org.ec/ direction, around 500 people enrolled and trained them. The project was supplemented by various accesses to the platform and mobile applications, promotional posters with QR codes and more.

Correlates of road traffic accident in cases attending IIR hospital Kanpur

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Shibajee Debbarma

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Globally, road traffic accidents rank 8th among the leading causes of death. According to WHO data, deaths from road traffic injuries account for around 25% of all deaths from injury.Objective: To study the various correlates of road traffic accident in cases attending LLR Hospital, Kanpur.Materials and Methods: The study was conducted among road traffic accident cases attending Emergency Ward of Lala Lajpat Rai Hospital, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh during the period of March-September, 2015. Data was recorded in a pre-designed and pre-tested questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS software version 16.0.Results: Out of 609 RTA cases, maximum number (54.19% were in 20-40 years age group. Most of the RTA victims were males (69.95% and majority were literate (90.97%. Maximum number (28.74% of RTA took place between 4.00 p.m-8.00 p.m. Maximum number (36.95% of RTA victims were two-wheeler drivers, followed by two-wheeler riders (26.60%. 16.60% of drivers of motorized vehicles had no driving license. 85.48% of motorized vehicle users were not using any protective gear (helmet, seat belt etc. at the time of accident.Conclusion: Young adults in the economically most productive age group were the commonest victims of RTA. There is need of creating awareness regarding traffic rules among general public and strict enforcement of traffic rules by the concerned authorities.

Partial least square method for modelling ergonomic risks factors on express bus accidents in the east coast of peninsular west Malaysia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hashim, Yusof bin; Taha, Zahari bin

2015-01-01

Public, stake holders and authorities in Malaysian government show great concern towards high numbers of passenger’s injuries and passengers fatalities in express bus accident. This paper studies the underlying factors involved in determining ergonomics risk factors towards human error as the reasons in express bus accidents in order to develop an integrated analytical framework. Reliable information about drivers towards bus accident should lead to the design of strategies intended to make the public feel safe in public transport services. In addition there is an analysis of ergonomics risk factors to determine highly ergonomic risk factors which led to accidents. The research was performed in east coast of peninsular Malaysia using variance-based structural equation modeling namely the Partial Least Squares (PLS) regression techniques. A questionnaire survey was carried out at random among 65 express bus drivers operating from the city of Kuantan in Pahang and among 49 express bus drivers operating from the city of Kuala Terengganu in Terengganu to all towns in the east coast of peninsular west Malaysia. The ergonomic risks factors questionnaire is based on demographic information, occupational information, organizational safety climate, ergonomic workplace, physiological factors, stress at workplace, physical fatigue and near miss accidents. The correlation and significant values between latent constructs (near miss accident) were analyzed using SEM SmartPLS, 3M. The finding shows that the correlated ergonomic risks factors (occupational information, t=2.04, stress at workplace, t = 2.81, physiological factor, t=2.08) are significant to physical fatigue and as the mediator to near miss accident at t = 2.14 at p<0.05and T-statistics, t>1.96. The results shows that the effects of physical fatigue due to ergonomic risks factors influence the human error as the reasons in express bus accidents

Partial least square method for modelling ergonomic risks factors on express bus accidents in the east coast of peninsular west Malaysia

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hashim, Yusof bin [Faculty of Industrial Sciences and Technology, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Gambang 26300 Kuantan, Pahang (Malaysia); Taha, Zahari bin [Faculty of Manufacturing Engineering, Malaysia Pahang, 26600 Pekan, Pahang (Malaysia)

2015-02-03

Public, stake holders and authorities in Malaysian government show great concern towards high numbers of passenger’s injuries and passengers fatalities in express bus accident. This paper studies the underlying factors involved in determining ergonomics risk factors towards human error as the reasons in express bus accidents in order to develop an integrated analytical framework. Reliable information about drivers towards bus accident should lead to the design of strategies intended to make the public feel safe in public transport services. In addition there is an analysis of ergonomics risk factors to determine highly ergonomic risk factors which led to accidents. The research was performed in east coast of peninsular Malaysia using variance-based structural equation modeling namely the Partial Least Squares (PLS) regression techniques. A questionnaire survey was carried out at random among 65 express bus drivers operating from the city of Kuantan in Pahang and among 49 express bus drivers operating from the city of Kuala Terengganu in Terengganu to all towns in the east coast of peninsular west Malaysia. The ergonomic risks factors questionnaire is based on demographic information, occupational information, organizational safety climate, ergonomic workplace, physiological factors, stress at workplace, physical fatigue and near miss accidents. The correlation and significant values between latent constructs (near miss accident) were analyzed using SEM SmartPLS, 3M. The finding shows that the correlated ergonomic risks factors (occupational information, t=2.04, stress at workplace, t = 2.81, physiological factor, t=2.08) are significant to physical fatigue and as the mediator to near miss accident at t = 2.14 at p<0.05and T-statistics, t>1.96. The results shows that the effects of physical fatigue due to ergonomic risks factors influence the human error as the reasons in express bus accidents.

Partial least square method for modelling ergonomic risks factors on express bus accidents in the east coast of peninsular west Malaysia

Science.gov (United States)

Hashim, Yusof bin; Taha, Zahari bin

2015-02-01

Public, stake holders and authorities in Malaysian government show great concern towards high numbers of passenger's injuries and passengers fatalities in express bus accident. This paper studies the underlying factors involved in determining ergonomics risk factors towards human error as the reasons in express bus accidents in order to develop an integrated analytical framework. Reliable information about drivers towards bus accident should lead to the design of strategies intended to make the public feel safe in public transport services. In addition there is an analysis of ergonomics risk factors to determine highly ergonomic risk factors which led to accidents. The research was performed in east coast of peninsular Malaysia using variance-based structural equation modeling namely the Partial Least Squares (PLS) regression techniques. A questionnaire survey was carried out at random among 65 express bus drivers operating from the city of Kuantan in Pahang and among 49 express bus drivers operating from the city of Kuala Terengganu in Terengganu to all towns in the east coast of peninsular west Malaysia. The ergonomic risks factors questionnaire is based on demographic information, occupational information, organizational safety climate, ergonomic workplace, physiological factors, stress at workplace, physical fatigue and near miss accidents. The correlation and significant values between latent constructs (near miss accident) were analyzed using SEM SmartPLS, 3M. The finding shows that the correlated ergonomic risks factors (occupational information, t=2.04, stress at workplace, t = 2.81, physiological factor, t=2.08) are significant to physical fatigue and as the mediator to near miss accident at t = 2.14 at p1.96. The results shows that the effects of physical fatigue due to ergonomic risks factors influence the human error as the reasons in express bus accidents.

Risky behavior, personality traits and road accidents among university students Comportamiento de riesgo, rasgos de personalidad y accidentes de carretera en estudiantes universitarios.

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Aristides I. Ferreira

2009-06-01

Full Text Available The personality traits that mediate risky driving and accidents among university students drivers were investigated. Study 1 (N=132 tested for the relation between risky behaviors and personality (16PF-5 second order dimensions. Three factors were extracted concerning risky driving: driving errors of commission, distraction, and driving errors of omission. Individuals with low self-control and high levels of anxiety were more prone to commit distractive behavior and driving errors of omission. Low self-control and high independence levels were associated with driving errors of commission. In study 2 (N=540, we tested if the number of road accidents for which an individual has been responsible was related to risky driving behavior. Drivers who committed more accidents presented higher scores in three new risky driving factors obtained: reckless driving, impaired concentration and division of attention.

Key words: Risky driving, personality, accidents, behavior.
En este estudio se investigaron los rasgos de personalidad relacionados con la conducción de riesgo y los accidentes en estudiantes universitarios. El primer estudio (N=132 evaluó la relación entre los comportamientos de riesgo y la personalidad (16PF-5 dimensiones de segundo orden. Tres factores fueron extraídos en relación con la conducción de riesgo: cometer errores de conducción, distracción, errores de omisión en la conducción. Los individuos con bajo autocontrol y altos niveles de ansiedad eran más propensos a tener comportamientos distractores y cometer errores de omisión en la conducción. Mientras que sujetos con bajo autocontrol y altos niveles de independencia se asociaron con el factor cometer errores de conducción. En el segundo estudio (N=540 evaluamos si el número de accidentes de tráfico, de los que una persona ha sido responsable, está relacionado con el comportamiento de riesgo en la conducción. Los resultados muestran que los conductores

Special training for drivers of vehicles carrying radioactive materials in Germany

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ridder, K.

1992-01-01

No rule, not even the best, serves its purpose if it is not complied with just because it is not known. In Europe, and in Germany particularly, this has been accepted wisdom for 12 years. With respect to the greater risk emanating form tank-vehicles, and in the aftermath of a tank-vehicle accident due to the driver's error in Spain 1987 (Los Alfaques) that killed more than 200 persons, tank-vehicle drivers had to undergo special training since midyear 1991. Training is organised in a modular system, which means that the driver can customise his dangerous goods training programme by combining several modules. The contents of the training programme, its organisation and supervision as well as the means for checking the successful completion of the programme are shown. (Author)

Poster - 34: Clinical Implementation of Prone Breast Treatment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jiang, Runqing; Fleming, Katrina; Kobeleva, Sofya; Osei, Ernest [Grand River Regional Cancer Centre (Canada)

2016-08-15

Purpose: Prone breast treatment is used to reduce acute and late toxicities for large or pendulous breast patients. This study developed and implemented the clinical workflow of prone breast radiotherapy treatment. Methods: Varian kVue Access360™ Prone Breast Couchtop was used as prone breast board. The treatment planning (TP)is performed in Eclipse TP system. TP comparisons between supine deep inspiration breathing hold (DIBH) and prone breast; prone forward field-in-field (FinF) planning and inverse IMRT planning were performed and discussed. For the daily setup, breast coverage was assessed in the room using light field and MV imaging was used at day 1 and weekly. Results: The first ten patients are CT scanned and planned both supine and prone. The coverage was all excellent for supine DIBH plan and prone breast plan. The plan in the prone position demonstrated improvements in lung sparing comparing to the DIBH plan. Both forward FinF plan and inverse IMRT plan achieved acceptable coverage of the breast, and heart dose is comparable. Considering the daily setup variations and MLC leakage, forward FinF plan was recommended for routine clinical use. The procedure has been tested in phantom and patients were treated clinically. Conclusions: Prone breast irradiation has been advocated for women with large pendulous breasts in order to decrease acute and late toxicities. The workflow for prone breast radiation therapy has been developed and the technique is ready to treat patients.

A case-control study estimating accident risk for alcohol, medicines and illegal drugs.

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Kim Paula Colette Kuypers

Full Text Available The aim of the present study was to assess the risk of having a traffic accident after using alcohol, single drugs, or a combination, and to determine the concentrations at which this risk is significantly increased.A population-based case-control study was carried out, collecting whole blood samples of both cases and controls, in which a number of drugs were detected. The risk of having an accident when under the influence of drugs was estimated using logistic regression adjusting for gender, age and time period of accident (cases/sampling (controls. The main outcome measures were odds ratio (OR for accident risk associated with single and multiple drug use. In total, 337 cases (negative: 176; positive: 161 and 2726 controls (negative: 2425; positive: 301 were included in the study.Main findings were that 1 alcohol in general (all the concentrations together caused an elevated crash risk; 2 cannabis in general also caused an increase in accident risk; at a cut-off of 2 ng/mL THC the risk of having an accident was four times the risk associated with the lowest THC concentrations; 3 when ranking the adjusted OR from lowest to highest risk, alcohol alone or in combination with other drugs was related to a very elevated crash risk, with the highest risk for stimulants combined with sedatives.The study demonstrated a concentration-dependent crash risk for THC positive drivers. Alcohol and alcohol-drug combinations are by far the most prevalent substances in drivers and subsequently pose the largest risk in traffic, both in terms of risk and scope.

Study of the Effects of Alcohol on Drivers and Driving Performance on Straight Road

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaohua Zhao

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Drinking driving is responsible for a high proportion of traffic accidents. To study the effects of alcohol on drivers and driving performance, 25 drivers’ subjective feelings and driving performance data in different blood-alcohol concentration (BAC levels were collected with simulated driving experiment. The investigation results revealed that alcohol affected drivers in many aspects, including attitude, judgment, vigilance, perception, reaction, and controlling. The analysis of accident rate showed that higher BAC level would lead to higher accident rate. The statistical analysis results of driving performance indicated that average speed, speed standard deviation, and lane position standard deviation were significantly higher under the influence of alcohol. They also had a statistically significant linear trend as the function of BAC level. The discrimination of drinking driving based on driving performance was performed with Fisher discrimination method. The results showed that drinking driving with higher BAC level was easier to discriminate from normal driving. Also, the results indicated that the three significant indicators on straight roadway could be used in the discrimination of drinking driving state. The conclusions can provide references for the study of drinking driving and the identification of driving state and then contribute to traffic safety.

[Health-related consequences of obstructive sleep apnea: daytime sleepiness, accident risk and legal aspects].

Science.gov (United States)

Orth, M; Kotterba, S

2012-04-01

Daytime sleepiness for any reason leads to impairment of daytime performance and an increased accident rate. The consequences are an increase of illness- and accident-related costs for the health system. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is one of the major reasons for increased daytime sleepiness, especially in professional drivers. The accident frequency in OSA can be significantly reduced by adequate continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy. Up till now there are no uniform legal regulations about the handling of OSAS patients or patients with daytime sleepiness due to other diseases as far as driving ability is concerned.

Predominance of alcohol and illicit drugs among traffic accidents fatalities in an urban area of Brazil.

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Pelição, Fabrício Souza; Peres, Mariana Dadalto; Pissinate, Jauber Fornaciari; de Paula, Daniela Mendes Louzada; de Faria, Maria das Graças Corrêa; Nakamura-Palacios, Ester Miyuki; De Martinis, Bruno Spinosa

2016-10-02

The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of alcohol and illicit drug use among victims of fatal traffic accidents in the Metropolitan Region of Vitória, Brazil, during the period 2011-2012. Blood samples were collected and analyzed for the presence of drugs from 391 deceased victims of traffic crashes that occurred in the Metropolitan Region of Vitória, Brazil. The victims included drivers, passengers, and pedestrians. Sociodemographic variables such as age, gender, day of the week, and period of the year in which the accidents occurred were recorded. The analyses were performed by a gas chromatography-flame ionization method for alcohol and by a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry for amphetamines, cocaine, and cannabis. The results showed that 44.8% (n = 175) of all cases were positive for alcohol and/or illicit drugs. The detection of alcohol and/or drugs was more frequent in young males, aged 17 to 34, whose samples were positive in 46.8% of cases. Small differences among drivers, passengers, and pedestrians were observed (drivers = 45.9%, passengers = 46.4%, and pedestrians = 45.6%). In general, the most prevalent drug was alcohol, with 141 positive cases (36.1%), followed by cocaine, with 47 positive cases (12%). Amphetamines and cannabis had positivity rates of 4.1 and 4.3%, with 16 and 17 positive cases, respectively. The combined use of alcohol and other drugs was found in 36 cases (9.2%). Crack cocaine use was observed in 27.7% of the positive cases for cocaine. For the effective reduction of traffic accidents related to driving under influence of drugs (DUID), we suggest the intensification of enforcement actions against the use of alcohol by drivers, the definition of which illicit drugs should be surveyed, as well the cutoff values, the promotion of changing legislation to oblige drivers to provide samples for toxicological testing, and the establishment of public information programs and specific actions aimed at young drivers to

A retrospective study on the unseen epidemic of road traffic injuries and deaths due to accidents in Mwanza City - Tanzania.

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Ngallaba, S E; Majinge, C; Gilyoma, J; Makerere, D J; Charles, E

2013-06-01

Sixty percent of the global deaths and injuries occur in the developing world and mostly are due to Road traffic accidents (RTAs. looking at the etiological related factors which include, carelessness of the driver, condition of the vehicle or motorcycle, poor condition of roads, risky behavior of the driver, most of these factors can be prevented to some extent. This study therefore, determined the pattern of cases and deaths due to traffic road accidents in Mwanza City Tanzania. In this retrospective study, records, registers and case notes In the surgical ward and causality, medical records and central police station from 2008 to 2011 were used. The study focused on the two referral hospitals (Sekouture regional hospital and Bugando Medical Center). There were 3450 cases due to accidents reported at both centers (Sekouture regional hospital and Bugando Medical Center of which 3224 (93.4%) had complete information for analysis.2225 (69%) were male and 999 (31%) were female, and the most affected group were male. Among the RTAs2809 cases (87%) were due to motor cycle accidents which were the leading cause of RTAs with case fatality rate of 5% while motor vehicle has case fatality rate of 24% which is 5 times that of motor cycle. Among all RTAs the leading cause of injuries is Motor cycle traffic accidents followed by motor vehicle. RTAs are on increase particularly the motor cycle traffic accidents and has claimed a good number of innocent people's lives however most of them are preventable, therefore driving course to be introduced to motor cycle drivers with emphasize on the road posters signal, rules and regular checkup of their motor cycles especially commercial motor cycle.

Extent and variations in mobile phone use among drivers of heavy vehicles in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Troglauer, Thomas; Hels, Tove; Christens, P.

2006-01-01

A substantial body of research has shown that use of mobile phones while driving can impair driving performance and increase the risk of being involved in accidents. Similarly, mobile phone use seems to be an increasing activity thus representing a relevant traffic safety issue. This paper...... investigates the extent and variations in mobile phone use among drivers of heavy vehicles in Denmark. The data was collected through written questionnaires and had a response rate of 58%. It was found that more than 99% of the drivers used mobile phones while driving. Despite a prohibition of hand-held mobile...... the number of stops and the amount of phone use. 0.5% reported that their use of mobile phones had contributed to an accident, while 6% had experienced their mobile phone use causing a dangerous situation. However, 66% reported experiencing dangerous situations because of others road users' mobile phone use...

Postural hemodynamic changes after turning to prone position

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Микола Віталійович Лизогуб

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Background of study. Prone position is one of the most complex positions for anesthesiologist as it is accompanied by several physiological changes that can lead to specific complications. Hemodynamic changes are most controversial.Aim of study was to establish hemodynamic changes in non-anaesthetized patients in prone position depending on body mass index.Material and methods. We examined central hemodynamics in 40 patients the day before surgery using thoracic rheography in supine position, in prone position 5 min after turning and in prone position 20 min after turning. Patients were divided into 2 groups according to body mass index (18-25 and 26-35.Results. Patients with normal body weight did not have any hemodynamic changes after turning to prone position. Patients with increased body weight had higher cardiac index. After turning to prone position obese patients’ cardiac output and cardiac index reduced 22% comparing with supine position. After 20 min in prone position these hemodynamic parameters were found to be reduced to the same level.Conclusion. Significant hemodynamic changes after turning from supine to prone position were revealed only in patients with increased body mass index. In these patients cardiac index in prone position was reduced by 22% comparing to supine position

Studded and unstudded winter tires in fatal road accidents in Finland.

Science.gov (United States)

Malmivuo, Mikko; Luoma, Juha; Porthin, Markus

2017-07-04

The aim of the study was to compare the safety effects of studded and unstudded winter tires based on fatal road accidents. The data included 958 road accidents involving a passenger car or van that occurred in Finland from November to March between 1997 and 2012. Comparing the proportions of winter tire type in accidents and in general traffic showed that the overall effect of tire type on the number of accidents was not significant, although studded tires reduced fatal accidents by 10-15%. Compared to unstudded tires, studded tires reduced accidents significantly only on bald ice in 2005-2012. Drivers using unstudded tires were more experienced and their profession was more frequently related to driving. In addition, the vehicle age was lower for vehicles with unstudded tires. On the other hand, the state of repair was less pertinent for unstudded than for studded tires. These confounding factors offset their effects to some degree. The risk of fatal road accidents in winter between studded and unstudded tires does not differ significantly. However, the accident risk has recently been substantially higher on bald ice for unstudded than for studded tires. The magnitude of this risk difference is difficult to determine without specific information on exposure by road surface.

Effect of reducing abdominal compression during prone CT colonography on ascending colonic rotation during supine-to-prone positional change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jang, Jong eon; Park, Seong Ho; Lee, Jong Seok; Kim, Hyun Jin; KIm, Ah Young; Ha, Hyun Kwon

2016-01-01

To determine the effect of reduced abdominal compression in prone position on ascending colonic movement during supine-to-prone positional change during CT colonography (CTC). Eighteen consecutive patients who had undergone prone CTC scanning with cushion blocks placed under the chest and hip/thigh to reduce abdominal compression and had confirmed sessile polyps ≥ 6 mm in the well-distended, straight, mid-ascending colon, were included. Radial location along the ascending colonic luminal circumference (°) was measured for 24 polyps and 54 colonic teniae on supine and prone CTC images. The supine-to-prone change ranging between -180° and +180° (- and + for internal and external colonic rotations, respectively), was determined. In addition, possible causes of any ascending colonic rotations were explored. Abdominal compression during prone CTC scanning completely disappeared with the use of cushion blocks in 17 of 18 patients. However, some degrees of ascending colonic rotation were still observed, with the radial location changes of -22° to 61° (median, 13.9°) for the polyps and similar degrees for teniae. Fifty-four percent and 56% of polyps and teniae, respectively, showed changes > 10°. The radial location change of the polyps was significantly associated with the degree of anterior shift of the small bowel and mesentery (r = 0.722, p < 0.001) and the degree of posterior displacement of the ascending colon (r = 0.566, p = 0.004) during supine-to-prone positional change. Ascending colonic rotation upon supine-to-prone positional change during CTC, mostly in the form of external rotation, is not eliminated by removing abdominal compression in prone position

Non-seatbelt use and associated factors among Thai drivers during Songkran festival

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

Background Road traffic accidents are the second largest cause of burden of disease in Thailand, largely attributable to behavioural risk factors including drinking and driving, speeding, substance abuse and failure to use seatbelts. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and associated factors of non-seatbelt use among drivers during Songkran festival in Thailand. Methods A cross-sectional survey has been performed to determine the prevalence of seatbelt use among Thai drivers (N=13722) during four days of the Songkran festival. For this sample the population of drivers was consecutively selected from 12 petrol stations in four provinces from each of the four main geographical regions of Thailand. The study was conducted at petrol stations at roads in town, outside town and highway at different time intervals when trained field staff administered a structured questionnaire and performed an observation checklist on seat belt use. Results An overall prevalence of 28.4% of non-seatbelt use among drivers was found. In multivariable analysis demographics (being male, younger age, coming from the Northern or Southern region in Thailand), environmental factors (earlier during the Songkran festival, in the morning and late evening and on main roads in town), seatbelt use experiences and attitudes (having been in an accident before, never having used a seatbelt, no intention to use a seatbelt, lack of awareness of danger of non-seatbelt use and lower perceived risk of being caught with non-seatbelt use) and lower exposure to road safety awareness (RSA) campaign (less frequent exposure to RSA campaign, less frequent following of RTI statistics and not talking with others about the RSA campaign) were associated with non-seatbelt use. Conclusion Rates of non-seatbelt use by Thai drivers during Songkran festival was 28.4%. Lower exposure to the RSA campaign was found to be associated with non-seatbelt use among drivers during the Songkran festival. PMID:22863275

Self-esteem and delusion proneness.

Science.gov (United States)

Warman, Debbie M; Lysaker, Paul H; Luedtke, Brandi; Martin, Joel M

2010-06-01

The present study was an examination of global self-esteem and various types of unusual beliefs in a nonclinical population. Individuals with no history of psychotic disorder (N = 121) completed a measure of delusion-proneness and also a measure of self-esteem. Results indicated high delusion prone individuals had lower self-esteem than low delusion prone individuals (p = 0.044). In addition, higher levels of paranoid ideation and suspiciousness were associated with lower self-esteem (p low self-esteem and higher levels of beliefs related to thought disturbances, catastrophic ideation/thought broadcasting, and ideation of reference/influence. The significance of these findings as they relate to theories of delusion formation is discussed.

Associating crash avoidance maneuvers with driver attributes and accident characteristics: a mixed logit model approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaplan, Sigal; Prato, Carlo Giacomo

2012-01-01

The current study focuses on the propensity of drivers to engage in crash avoidance maneuvers in relation to driver attributes, critical events, crash characteristics, vehicles involved, road characteristics, and environmental conditions. The importance of avoidance maneuvers derives from the key role of proactive and state-aware road users within the concept of sustainable safety systems, as well as from the key role of effective corrective maneuvers in the success of automated in-vehicle warning and driver assistance systems. The analysis is conducted by means of a mixed logit model that represents the selection among 5 emergency lateral and speed control maneuvers (i.e., "no avoidance maneuvers," "braking," "steering," "braking and steering," and "other maneuvers) while accommodating correlations across maneuvers and heteroscedasticity. Data for the analysis were retrieved from the General Estimates System (GES) crash database for the year 2009 by considering drivers for which crash avoidance maneuvers are known. The results show that (1) the nature of the critical event that made the crash imminent greatly influences the choice of crash avoidance maneuvers, (2) women and elderly have a relatively lower propensity to conduct crash avoidance maneuvers, (3) drowsiness and fatigue have a greater negative marginal effect on the tendency to engage in crash avoidance maneuvers than alcohol and drug consumption, (4) difficult road conditions increase the propensity to perform crash avoidance maneuvers, and (5) visual obstruction and artificial illumination decrease the probability to carry out crash avoidance maneuvers. The results emphasize the need for public awareness campaigns to promote safe driving style for senior drivers and warning about the risks of driving under fatigue and distraction being comparable to the risks of driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs. Moreover, the results suggest the need to educate drivers about hazard perception, designing

A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY OF PATTERN OF FATAL HEAD INJURY IN HELMETED AND NONHELMETED VICTIMS OF TWO WHEELER ACCIDENTS

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P. A. Sheeju

2016-07-01

Full Text Available BACKGROUND Motor vehicle crashes are a major cause of fatality all over the world. By 2020, motor vehicle injury is projected to become the third leading contributor to the global burden of disease in the world. Motor cyclists are about 25 times more likely than car occupants to die in Road Traffic Accidents. Data on the incidence and types of crashes is required to guide safety policy. Knowledge of how injuries are caused and of what type they are of valuable instrument for identifying interventions and monitoring the effectiveness of intervention. The present study was done to find out the factors that contribute for motor cycle crashes and to study the injury pattern seen in helmeted and non-helmeted victims. MATERIAL AND METHODS Victims of two wheeler accidents brought for autopsy in a Govt. Medical College were studied from October 2010 to August 2011. Two wheelers include motor cycles, scooters and mopeds. Bicycles were excluded from the study. Accidents include all types; against all types of vehicles running on the road, collision with any object, surface or any animal or fall from vehicle. The details of the accident were collected in a printed proforma from relative/witnesses and from police officials. The injuries were entered in the specific columns of proforma. Data was analysed with MS Excel. RESULTS Death due to head injury is more in non-helmeted (52.5% compared to helmeted drivers (43.8 % whereas injury to chest and abdomen and limbs are more in helmeted. Combination of injuries (Head+Chest+Abdomen predominated in helmeted drivers (18.8% compared to 5% in non-helmeted drivers. Spinal injuries were more in helmeted than in non-helmeted. CONCLUSION The pattern of head injury was analysed in detail in helmeted and non-helmeted drivers. This will help in detailing of pattern of head injury in both groups.

Work-related versus non-work-related road accidents, developments in the last decade in France.

Science.gov (United States)

Charbotel, Barbara; Martin, Jean Louis; Chiron, Mireille

2010-03-01

The aim of this research was to analyze the changes that have affected work-related road accidents between 1997 and 2006, using police data. The study focused on drivers aged between 14 and 64 years. The characteristics considered were the age, gender, type of vehicle and occupation of the individuals involved and the location, time and severity of the accident. Two periods were compared, 1997-2000 and 2003-2006. Three types of journey were considered: while at work, commuting (going to and from work), and non-work-related. The percentage of all accidents which were work-related varied little over the decade (10% while at work and 18% while commuting). The accidents that occurred while at work still had the lowest fatality rates (1.4% among women and 3.4% among men in 2003-2006). Men accounted for the majority of the casualties: 90% of fatalities while at work and approximately 80% for the other types of journey. The greatest reduction took place in the number of motorists, and this has led to an increase in the proportion of motorized two-wheelers both while at work and while commuting. In the case of accidents while at work, the professional drivers still had the highest risk, craftsmen and shopkeepers were also at higher risk than manual workers of both genders and male employees. Extending analysis of this type to other European countries would be of major interest both for epidemiological monitoring and the prevention of occupational road accidents. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Factors contributing to young moped rider accidents in Denmark.

Science.gov (United States)

Møller, Mette; Haustein, Sonja

2016-02-01

Young road users still constitute a high-risk group with regard to road traffic accidents. The crash rate of a moped is four times greater than that of a motorcycle, and the likelihood of being injured in a road traffic accident is 10-20 times higher among moped riders compared to car drivers. Nevertheless, research on the behaviour and accident involvement of young moped riders remains sparse. Based on analysis of 128 accident protocols, the purpose of this study was to increase knowledge about moped accidents. The study was performed in Denmark involving riders aged 16 or 17. A distinction was made between accident factors related to (1) the road and its surroundings, (2) the vehicle, and (3) the reported behaviour and condition of the road user. Thirteen accident factors were identified with the majority concerning the reported behaviour and condition of the road user. The average number of accident factors assigned per accident was 2.7. Riding speed was assigned in 45% of the accidents which made it the most frequently assigned factor on the part of the moped rider followed by attention errors (42%), a tuned up moped (29%) and position on the road (14%). For the other parties involved, attention error (52%) was the most frequently assigned accident factor. The majority (78%) of the accidents involved road rule breaching on the part of the moped rider. The results indicate that preventive measures should aim to eliminate violations and increase anticipatory skills among moped riders and awareness of mopeds among other road users. Due to their young age the effect of such measures could be enhanced by infrastructural measures facilitating safe interaction between mopeds and other road users. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Holography: Use in Training and Testing Drivers on the Road in Accident Avoidance.

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Frey, Allan H.; Frey, Donnalyn

1979-01-01

Defines holography, identifies visual factors in driving and the techniques used in on-road visual presentations, and presents the design and testing of a holographic system for driver training. (RAO)

Situational Factors of Influencing Drivers to Give Precedence to Jaywalking Pedestrians at Signalized Crosswalk

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaobei Jiang

2011-12-01

Full Text Available A large number of fatalities are caused by the vehicle-pedestrian accidents. Under a potential conflict between the vehicle and jaywalking pedestrian, giving precedence to the pedestrian will be a proper decision taken by the driver to avoid collision. Field traffic data has been collected by video recording and image processing at two signalized crosswalks. Vehicle speed performance in the single vehicle-pedestrian encounter and platoon vehicle-pedestrian encounter were analyzed for understanding the driver behavior in the conflict process. Binary logic model was proposed to estimate the drivers' giving precedence influenced by the situational factors and the model was validated to predict the drivers' choices accurately. The vehicle speed, pedestrian speed, pedestrian lateral distance and the vehicle longitudinal distance to the conflict point were proved to affect the drivers' choices in platoon driving. The research results would hopefully be helpful to the design of intelligent vehicles and pedestrian protection systems by the knowledge-based decision making process.

Shame-proneness and its correlates in couples

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tomaž Erzar

2010-11-01

Full Text Available The study assessed the relationships between three TOSCA-3 (Test of Self-Conscious Affect; Tangney, 1990 subscales (shame-proneness, guilt-proneness, and externalization, and the following variables: stress, anxiety, depression, fear of intimacy, and attachment style in a sample of 68 heterosexual couples in committed relationships. Within-subject and within-dyad correlations were computed. Results confirmed a low to moderate connection for depression, anxiety, fear of intimacy and secure attachment. Shame-proneness, externalization, and guilt-proneness were not correlated within couples. The findings also provided further evidence for a differential understanding for some of the variables in each gender.

Formulating accident occurrence as a survival process.

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Chang, H L; Jovanis, P P

1990-10-01

A conceptual framework for accident occurrence is developed based on the principle of the driver as an information processor. The framework underlies the development of a modeling approach that is consistent with the definition of exposure to risk as a repeated trial. Survival theory is proposed as a statistical technique that is consistent with the conceptual structure and allows the exploration of a wide range of factors that contribute to highway operating risk. This survival model of accident occurrence is developed at a disaggregate level, allowing safety researchers to broaden the scope of studies which may be limited by the use of traditional aggregate approaches. An application of the approach to motor carrier safety is discussed as are potential applications to a variety of transportation industries. Lastly, a typology of highway safety research methodologies is developed to compare the properties of four safety methodologies: laboratory experiments, on-the-road studies, multidisciplinary accident investigations, and correlational studies. The survival theory formulation has a mathematical structure that is compatible with each safety methodology, so it may facilitate the integration of findings across methodologies.

The Supporting a Teen's Effective Entry to the Roadway (STEER) Program: Feasibility and Preliminary Support for a Psychosocial Intervention for Teenage Drivers with ADHD

Science.gov (United States)

Fabiano, Gregory A.; Hulme, Kevin; Linke, Stuart; Nelson-Tuttle, Chris; Pariseau, Meaghan; Gangloff, Brian; Lewis, Kemper; Pelham, William E.; Waschbusch, Daniel A.; Waxmonsky, James G.; Gormley, Matthew; Gera, Shradha; Buck, Melina

2011-01-01

Teenage drivers with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at considerable risk for negative driving outcomes, including traffic citations, accidents, and injuries. Presently, no efficacious psychosocial interventions exist for teenage drivers with ADHD. The Supporting a Teen's Effective Entry to the Roadway (STEER) program is a…

Multiple logistic regression model of signalling practices of drivers on urban highways

Science.gov (United States)

Puan, Othman Che; Ibrahim, Muttaka Na'iya; Zakaria, Rozana

2015-05-01

Giving signal is a way of informing other road users, especially to the conflicting drivers, the intention of a driver to change his/her movement course. Other users are exposed to hazard situation and risks of accident if the driver who changes his/her course failed to give signal as required. This paper describes the application of logistic regression model for the analysis of driver's signalling practices on multilane highways based on possible factors affecting driver's decision such as driver's gender, vehicle's type, vehicle's speed and traffic flow intensity. Data pertaining to the analysis of such factors were collected manually. More than 2000 drivers who have performed a lane changing manoeuvre while driving on two sections of multilane highways were observed. Finding from the study shows that relatively a large proportion of drivers failed to give any signals when changing lane. The result of the analysis indicates that although the proportion of the drivers who failed to provide signal prior to lane changing manoeuvre is high, the degree of compliances of the female drivers is better than the male drivers. A binary logistic model was developed to represent the probability of a driver to provide signal indication prior to lane changing manoeuvre. The model indicates that driver's gender, type of vehicle's driven, speed of vehicle and traffic volume influence the driver's decision to provide a signal indication prior to a lane changing manoeuvre on a multilane urban highway. In terms of types of vehicles driven, about 97% of motorcyclists failed to comply with the signal indication requirement. The proportion of non-compliance drivers under stable traffic flow conditions is much higher than when the flow is relatively heavy. This is consistent with the data which indicates a high degree of non-compliances when the average speed of the traffic stream is relatively high.

Time to death analysis of road traffic accidents in relation to delta V, drunk driving, and restraint systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Ju, Yonghan; Sohn, So Young

2014-01-01

The main goal of this research is to identify variables related to the expected time to death due to road traffic accidents (RTAs). Such research is expected to be useful in improving safety laws and regulations and developing new safety systems. The resulting information is crucial not only for reducing accident fatalities but for assessing related insurance policies. In this article, we analyze factors that are potentially associated with variation in the expected survival time after a road traffic accident using Weibull regression. In particular, we consider the association with alcohol involvement, delta V, and restraint systems. Our empirical results, obtained based on the NASS-CDS, indicate that the expected survival time for non-alcohol-impaired drivers is 3.23 times longer at a delta V of 50 km/h than that for alcohol-impaired drivers under the same conditions. In addition, it was observed that, even when occupants were alcohol-impaired, if they were protected by both air bags and seat belts, their expected survival time after an RTA increased 2.59-fold compared to alcohol-impaired drivers who used only seat belts. Our findings may be useful in improving road traffic safety and insurance policies by offering insights into the factors that reduce fatalities.

Factors affecting driver alertness during the operation of haul trucks in the South African mining industry

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Schutte, PC

2003-06-01

Full Text Available In view of the seriousness of haul trucks accidents, SIMRAC initiated research to identify factors affecting haul truck driver alertness during mining operations. The information obtained during the risk analysis was used to identify possible...

Is it reliable that speed-calming solutions as ISA can reach the drivers, who needed it most?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Agerholm, Niels

A significant number of trials with Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA) have been carried out within the last two decades. Almost all with a promising result; the drivers reduce their proportion of speeding and are in general positive to ISA. However, two tings question this offhand success story; 1......: there has been no commercial break through for ISA so far, even though estimated has shown that ISA can reduce the n. of fatalities in traffic accidents with up to 59%, and 2: in the only ISA trial included drivers, who not participated voluntary in the trial, ISA had virtually no effect on these drivers...

Young drivers' perception of adult and child pedestrians in potential street-crossing situations.

Science.gov (United States)

Ābele, Līva; Haustein, Sonja; Møller, Mette

2018-04-03

Despite overall improvements in road traffic safety, pedestrian accidents continue to be a serious public health problem. Due to lack of experience, limited cognitive and motoric skills, and smaller size, children have a higher injury risk as pedestrians than adults. To what extent drivers adjust their driving behaviour to children's higher vulnerability is largely unknown. To determine whether young male drivers' behaviour and scanning pattern differs when approaching a child and an adult pedestrian in a potential street-crossing situation, sixty-five young (18-24) male drivers' speed, lateral position and eye movements were recorded in a driving simulator. Results showed that fewer drivers responded by slowing down and that drivers had a higher driving speed when approaching a child pedestrian, although the time of the first fixation on both types of pedestrians was the same. However, drivers drove farther away from a child than an adult pedestrian. Additionally, fewer drivers who did not slow down fixated on the speedometer while approaching the child pedestrian. The results show that young drivers behave differently when approaching a child and an adult pedestrian, though not in a way that appropriately accounts for the limitations of a child pedestrian. A better understanding of how drivers respond to different types of pedestrians and why could contribute to the development of pedestrian detection and emergency braking systems. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Background music as a risk factor for distraction among young-novice drivers.

Science.gov (United States)

Brodsky, Warren; Slor, Zack

2013-10-01

There are countless beliefs about the power of music during driving. The last thing one would think about is: how safe is it to listen or sing to music? Unfortunately, collisions linked to music devices have been known for some time; adjusting the radio controls, swapping tape-cassettes and compact-discs, or searching through MP3 files, are all forms of distraction that can result in a near-crash or crash. While the decrement of vehicular performance can also occur from capacity interference to central attention, whether or not music listening is a contributing factor to distraction is relatively unknown. The current study explored the effects of driver-preferred music on driver behavior. 85 young-novice drivers completed six trips in an instrumented Learners Vehicle. The study found that all participants committed at-least 3 driver deficiencies; 27 needed a verbal warning/command and 17 required a steering or braking intervention to prevent an accident. While there were elevated positive moods and enjoyment for trips with driver-preferred music, this background also produced the most frequent severe driver miscalculations and inaccuracies, violations, and aggressive driving. However, trips with music structurally designed to generate moderate levels of perceptual complexity, improved driver behavior and increased driver safety. The study is the first within-subjects on-road high-dose double-exposure clinical-trial investigation of musical stimuli on driver behavior. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Neglected children, shame-proneness, and depressive symptoms.

Science.gov (United States)

Bennett, David S; Sullivan, Margaret Wolan; Lewis, Michael

2010-11-01

Neglected children may be at increased risk for depressive symptoms. This study examines shame-proneness as an outcome of child neglect and as a potential explanatory variable in the relation between neglect and depressive symptoms. Participants were 111 children (52 with a Child Protective Services [CPS] allegation of neglect) seen at age 7. Neglected children reported more shame-proneness and more depressive symptoms than comparison children. Guilt-proneness, in contrast, was unrelated to neglect and depressive symptoms, indicating specificity for shame-proneness. The potential role of shame as a process variable that can help explain how some neglected children exhibit depressive symptoms is discussed.

[Visual abilities of older drivers--review of driving simulator studies].

Science.gov (United States)

Andysz, Aleksandra; Merecz, Dorota

2012-01-01

In the member countries of the year Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), one in four people will reach the age of 65 or more by 2030 and their population aged over 80 will triple by 2050. Changes that occur in the demographic structure of developed countries will affect traffic area. Most of the on-road existing solutions is inadequate for older people with diminished cognitive and motor abilities. In this group, difficulties in driving performance are associated with reduced cognitive efficiency, vision and hearing loss, and general psychomotor slowing. The presented review focuses on the studies of a useful field of view, an indicator considered to be a valid predictor of road accidents, divided attention, susceptibility to distraction and visual search strategies. The major questions of these studies were: which vision parameters determine safe driving, what degree of their deterioration causes significant risk and whether there are opportunities for their rehabilitation. The results indicate that older drivers do exhibit vision and attention deficits, but their engagement in a wide range of compensatory behaviors and effective visual search strategies compensate for these deficits. This shows that older drivers cannot be clearly classified as a group of particular risk for causing road traffic accidents. We should not be alarmed by a growing group of active senior drivers. We should rather use the advantages of available methods, including driving simulators, to predict how the traffic environment will look like in the close future and how to make it friendly and safe for everyone.

Elements to diminish radioactive accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cortes I, M.E.; Ramirez G, F.P.

1998-01-01

In this work it is presented an application of the cause-effect diagram method or Ichikawa method identifying the elements that allow to diminish accidents when the radioactive materials are transported. It is considered the transport of hazardous materials which include radioactive materials in the period: December 1996 until March 1997. Among the identified elements by this method it is possible to mention: the road type, the radioactive source protection, the grade driver responsibility and the preparation that the OEP has in the radioactive material management. It is showed the differences found between the country inner roads and the Mexico City area. (Author)

Self-concept and delinquency proneness.

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, F R; Swain, M T

1977-01-01

Contrary to the theory of the homeostatic model of self-concept, i.e., the expectancy that engaging in anti-social or pro-social behavior results typically in shifts in the self-concept (Graf, 1968; Deitz, 1970 shifts did not occur. Subjects, 12- 14-year-old boys enrolled in junior high school, delinquent prone (DP) and non-delinquent prone bright (NDPB), reacted to manipulation by engaging in reparative behavior as indicated via an aggression module in a fashion generally expected but the expected shift from chronic self-images did not occur. Both DP and NDPB viewed themselves similarly on self concept. The authors postulated that if shifts would occur for the delinquent prone it would be after they left school with its accompanying identification with a sub-culture outside the school setting.

Accidents - Chernobyl accident; Accidents - accident de Tchernobyl

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2004-07-01

This file is devoted to the Chernobyl accident. It is divided in four parts. The first part concerns the accident itself and its technical management. The second part is relative to the radiation doses and the different contaminations. The third part reports the sanitary effects, the determinists ones and the stochastic ones. The fourth and last part relates the consequences for the other European countries with the case of France. Through the different parts a point is tackled with the measures taken after the accident by the other countries to manage an accident, the cooperation between the different countries and the groups of research and studies about the reactors safety, and also with the international medical cooperation, specially for the children, everything in relation with the Chernobyl accident. (N.C.)

Safety Performance Indicator for alcohol in road accidents--international comparison, validity and data quality.

Science.gov (United States)

Assum, Terje; Sørensen, Michael

2010-03-01

Safety Performance Indicators, SPIs, are developed for various areas within road safety such as speed, car occupant protection, alcohol and drugs, vehicle safety, etc. SPIs can be used to indicate the road safety situation and to compare road safety performance between countries and over time and to understand the process leading to accidents, helping to select the measures to reduce them. This article describes an alcohol SPI defined as the percentage of fatalities resulting from accidents involving at least one driver impaired by alcohol. The calculation of the alcohol SPI for 26 European countries shows that the SPI varies from 4.4% in Bulgaria to 72.2% in Italy. These results raise the question if the results reflect the real situation or if there is a methodological explanation. To answer this question three different studies were carried out: comparison with other alcohol SPIs, in-depth studies of data quality in seven selected countries, and a study of correlations between the SPI and influencing factors. These studies indicate clearly that there is a need to improve quality of the data used for the alcohol SPI. Most importantly, the total number of drivers involved in fatal accidents, the number tested for alcohol and the number not tested, should be reported, in addition to the number of alcohol positive and negative drivers among those tested. Until these improvements are made, the validity of this SPI seems poor and comparison of the alcohol SPI results across countries should be made with caution. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Driver's views and behaviors about safety in China--what do they NOT know about driving?

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Wei; Huang, Yueng-Hsiang; Roetting, Matthias; Wang, Ying; Wei, Hua

2006-01-01

Driving safety has become an extremely severe problem in China due to rapid motorization. Unless more effective measures are taken, the fatality risk and the total fatalities due to road traffic accidents are expected to continue to increase. Therefore, focus group discussions were conducted to explore driver attitudes and safe driver characteristics. The results were then compared with a similar study conducted with US drivers. Although similarities were found, differences were of more importance. The Chinese drivers concentrate more on driving skills and capabilities, whereas the US drivers concentrate more on practical safe driving guidelines. Then direct field observations were conducted for the Chinese drivers to empirically investigate the issues discovered. The use of safety belts, running lights, headlights, and turn signals were observed to investigate the drivers' behaviors. Results show that the safety belt use ratio is about 64%, running light use is nearly zero during rainy and snowy weather, headlights use after sunset is substantially delayed, and only about 40% of drivers use turn signals to indicate their intention to change lanes. These findings indicate that the authorities need to take appropriate countermeasures to change the views of the Chinese drivers regarding driving safety and their unsafe driving behaviors. Improvement of training content and methods as well as police enforcement would be recommended.

Novel application of red-light runner proneness theory within traffic microsimulation to an actual signal junction.

Science.gov (United States)

Bell, Margaret Carol; Galatioto, Fabio; Giuffrè, Tullio; Tesoriere, Giovanni

2012-05-01

Building on previous research a conceptual framework, based on potential conflicts analysis, has provided a quantitative evaluation of 'proneness' to red-light running behaviour at urban signalised intersections of different geometric, flow and driver characteristics. The results provided evidence that commonly used violation rates could cause inappropriate evaluation of the extent of the red-light running phenomenon. Initially, an in-depth investigation of the functional form of the mathematical relationship between the potential and actual red-light runners was carried out. The application of the conceptual framework was tested on a signalised intersection in order to quantify the proneness to red-light running. For the particular junction studied proneness for daytime was found to be 0.17 north and 0.16 south for opposing main road approaches and 0.42 east and 0.59 west for the secondary approaches. Further investigations were carried out using a traffic microsimulation model, to explore those geometric features and traffic volumes (arrival patterns at the stop-line) that significantly affect red-light running. In this way the prediction capability of the proposed potential conflict model was improved. A degree of consistency in the measured and simulated red-light running was observed and the conceptual framework was tested through a sensitivity analysis applied to different stop-line positions and traffic volume variations. The microsimulation, although at its early stages of development, has shown promise in its ability to model unintentional red light running behaviour and following further work through application to other junctions, potentially provides a tool for evaluation of alternative junction designs on proneness. In brief, this paper proposes and applies a novel approach to model red-light running using a microsimulation and demonstrates consistency with the observed and theoretical results. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Identification of Drivers in Traffic Accidents and Determination of Passenger Position in a Vehicle by Finger Marks

OpenAIRE

Trapečar, Matej; Ivan Lipičnik, Martin; Balažic, Jože

2012-01-01

The following paper aims to illustrate certain investigative activities in the forensic analysis and examination of the scene of traffic accidents. When a traffic accident occurs, the scene must be secured as soon as possible to enable professional and proper forensic investigation. Failure to secure the accident scene might result in losing or contaminating the traces, which makes it more difficult to prove or explain trace evidence in further procedure or even makes such evidence inadmissib...

Car Black Box with Speed Control in Desired Areas for Collision Avoidance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. Poddar

2012-10-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an advanced step to the concept of car black-box in developing a comprehensive vehicle safety system which would not only record the video and audio, but also try to prevent a possible collision by limiting the speed of the vehicle in accident-prone areas. In case of an accident, the time and location (co-ordinates is sent through GSM to a preset number for immediate rescue and treatment. Recorded data can also be used for forensics, revealing the problems that caused the accident and give manufacturer an idea for improvement. So the motto is to develop an embedded integrated system consisting of a microcontroller, a power supply unit, sensors, memory, a motor driver unit and a GPS/GSM modem.

Informal public transport driver behaviour and regulatory policy linkage: An expose

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Smart Dumba

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Background: Literature on the negative socio-economic and environmental externalities generated by informal public transport (IPT in developing countries is vast, vibrant and growing fast. These externalities include but are not limited to noise, air and land pollution, accidents and, more importantly, a source of congestion (human and vehicular because of poor driver behaviour. In this article, the research does not seek to reinstate these, but rather, it argues that poor driver behaviour is a dependent variable to some regulatory policy stimuli. Yet, an extensive literature survey has shown that the driver behaviour and urban transport regulation linkage remain little explored. Objective: The purpose of this article was to unpack the relationship between informal public transport driver behaviour and the prevailing regulatory framework. Method: Based on a case study of Harare, Zimbabwe, the researcher adopted a mixed-methods paradigm and interrogated the prevailing urban public transport regulatory regimes and applied professional judgement, oral interviews backed by some quantitative data and relate these to obtaining IPT driver behavioural characteristics. Results: Poor driver behaviour exhibited by IPT were generated, exacerbated and or eased by the prevailing regulatory policy. This is well depicted through an IPT driver behaviour and regulation loop reinforcing diagram. Conclusion: Following this argument, the article cautions policy makers and urban managers alike that direct approaches and interventions when trying to regulate IPT poor driver behaviour and its secondary negative effects will be futile as long as the regulatory policy remains the same. Failure to recognise and connect the dots between IPT driver behaviour and policy partly explains why globally, the IPT sector has proved difficult in prohibiting, restructuring or even formalising it.

Alcohol abuse and involvement in traffic accidents in the Brazilian population, 2013.

Science.gov (United States)

Damacena, Giseli Nogueira; Malta, Deborah Carvalho; Boccolini, Cristiano Siqueira; Souza, Paulo Roberto Borges de; Almeida, Wanessa da Silva de; Ribeiro, Lucas Sisinno; Szwarcwald, Célia Landmann

2016-12-01

Abstract This article aims to analyze alcohol abuse and frequent consumption according to sociodemographic characteristics and investigate the risk of greater involvement in traffic accidents, using data from the National Health Survey (PNS), 2013, Brazil. Events investigated were alcohol abuse and frequent consumption and if the individual was involved in a traffic accident and sustained an injury in the last 12 months. We investigated both events according to sociodemographic characteristics and assessed the association among them through multivariate logistic regression. The prevalence of alcohol abuse and frequent consumption was 6.1% for the population aged 18 years and over, 8.9% among men and 3.6% among women. The prevalence of involvement in traffic accidents was 3.1% in the general population and 6.1% among those who reported alcohol abuse. After controlling for sociodemographic factors, alcohol abuse and frequent consumption was significantly associated with traffic accidents. Considering a higher risk of involvement in traffic accidents among individuals who reported alcohol abuse and frequent consumption, monitoring blood alcohol concentration of drivers becomes a strategic possibility of intervention.

Traffic accident injuries in a referral Orthopedic Hospital in North West of Iran during summer 2009

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Amir Mohammad Navali

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Road traffic injuries are a major public health problem, requiring huge efforts for effective and sustainable prevention. Because of the high occurrence of traffic accidents in Iran, basic data acquisition is highly needed to implement prevention plans. The present research is conducted as an epidemiological study of the traffic accident victims referred to a referral orthopedic center in North West of Iran. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted during a 3 months period from June to September 2009 in Tabriz, Iran. A total of 16681 patients were admitted to the emergency ward, and 3246 patients (19.5% were hospitalized during this period because of traffic related injuries. After randomization, 630 cases were selected to be enrolled in the study. The location of an accident, position of road users, type of crashed vehicle, cause of accident, type of injury, time interval from accident to hospitalization and treatment outcome were recorded. Statistical analyses were carried out using SPSS software. Results: The mean age of the patients was 31 years (range, 6 months to 98 years and 77.0% of patients (468 cases were men. A total of 193 (36.6% patients sustained traffic accident in open roads and 335 (63.4% in urban corridors. In 67 (12.9% of accidents, there was only a single occupant in the vehicle. The time interval between the accident and admission was 6.6 ± 3.2 hours. Of the 608 cases, 45.7% were drivers, 30.3% passengers, and 24.0% pedestrians. Most cases of the car accident happened in urban areas, and the male victims were largely in the driver group. The most frequent type of injury was knee, leg and head trauma. Conclusion: The large number of traffic-related injuries admitted to our emergency ward that comprise mostly young adults should be considered as an alarming signal to policy makers and health providers in our province. Strict control on drivers’ behavior should be taken into account if increasing human

Spatiotemporal characteristics of elderly population’s traffic accidents in Seoul using space-time cube and space-time kernel density estimation

Science.gov (United States)

Cho, Nahye; Son, Serin

2018-01-01

The purpose of this study is to analyze how the spatiotemporal characteristics of traffic accidents involving the elderly population in Seoul are changing by time period. We applied kernel density estimation and hotspot analyses to analyze the spatial characteristics of elderly people’s traffic accidents, and the space-time cube, emerging hotspot, and space-time kernel density estimation analyses to analyze the spatiotemporal characteristics. In addition, we analyzed elderly people’s traffic accidents by dividing cases into those in which the drivers were elderly people and those in which elderly people were victims of traffic accidents, and used the traffic accidents data in Seoul for 2013 for analysis. The main findings were as follows: (1) the hotspots for elderly people’s traffic accidents differed according to whether they were drivers or victims. (2) The hourly analysis showed that the hotspots for elderly drivers’ traffic accidents are in specific areas north of the Han River during the period from morning to afternoon, whereas the hotspots for elderly victims are distributed over a wide area from daytime to evening. (3) Monthly analysis showed that the hotspots are weak during winter and summer, whereas they are strong in the hiking and climbing areas in Seoul during spring and fall. Further, elderly victims’ hotspots are more sporadic than elderly drivers’ hotspots. (4) The analysis for the entire period of 2013 indicates that traffic accidents involving elderly people are increasing in specific areas on the north side of the Han River. We expect the results of this study to aid in reducing the number of traffic accidents involving elderly people in the future. PMID:29768453

[Reduction of pressure sores during prone positioning of ventilated intensive care patients by the prone-head support system: a pilot study].

Science.gov (United States)

Prebio, Michael; Katz-Papatheophilou, Elfriede; Heindl, Werner; Gelbmann, Herbert; Burghuber, Otto C

2005-02-01

Prone positioning in patients with adult respiratory distress syndrome is a well-known method to improve oxygenation. The aim of our study was to evaluate a new device for prone positioning, the prone-head support system (PHS system), with regard to reduction of cutaneous pressure sores. In a pilot study we randomized 8 patients with ARDS in two groups: 180 degrees standard prone positioning (group without mask) and prone positioning with the PHS system (group with mask). The PHS system consists of a facemask support, which is connected to an adapted air suspension bed. The patients of both groups were intermittently proned for several days. We evaluated the pressure sores on head and neck before turning the patients prone for the first time and after each period of prone positioning. We documented the quantity, the size, the type and the localization of the pressure sores. There was no significant difference in the mean duration of prone positioning (27.1+/-14.7 hours in the group with mask versus 24.5+/-18.7 h in the group without mask). In the group with mask there were 1.5+/-0.8 new pressure sores by each proning, whereas in the group without mask there were 2.37+/-1.6 new pressure sores, which was lower, but not significantly. The overall area of pressure sores (798 mm2 versus 3184 mm2, p=0.004), the area of pressure sores per patient (199.5+/-104.7 mm2 versus 796+/-478 mm2, p=0.03) and the increase of the area of pressure sores per proning (79.8+/-52.0 mm2 versus 398.0+/-214.3 mm2, p=0.004) were significantly lower in the group with mask in comparison to the group without mask. The lips were the most effected localization in both groups. The pressure sores in the group with mask were less severe and showed a homogenous distribution in comparison to the group without mask. Blisters dominated in the group with mask in comparison to erosions, necrosis and ulcers in the group without mask. The PHS system with its face mask is able to reduce the extent and the

Uso de anfetaminas por motoristas de caminhão em rodovias do Estado de São Paulo: um risco à ocorrência de acidentes de trânsito? Amphetamine use by truck drivers on highways of Sao Paulo State: a risk for the occurrence of traffic accidents?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mauricio Yonamine

2013-05-01

Full Text Available No Brasil, é comum o uso de anfetaminas por motoristas de caminhão, o que pode culminar na ocorrência de acidentes de trânsito. O objetivo deste artigo é estimar a prevalência do uso de anfetaminas entre caminhoneiros. Motoristas (N = 134 foram abordados em duas rodovias do Estado de São Paulo e solicitados a responder um questionário, assim como a fornecer uma amostra de urina para realização de análises toxicológicas. Todos os dados foram analisados em Stata 8.0. Todos os participantes eram do sexo masculino, de idade média de 40,8 anos e de baixa escolaridade. A presença de anfetaminas foi detectada em 10,8% das amostras de urina, cujo uso foi justificado para manter a vigília durante o trabalho. O uso de anfetaminas foi detectado entre caminhoneiros em rodovias de São Paulo. Cessado o efeito estimulante, a sonolência advinda de uma possível privação de sono diminui a atenção e o bom desempenho na direção, predispondo o condutor aos acidentes de trânsito e seus custos relacionados.The use of amphetamines in Brazil is common among truck drivers, which may be an important factor in the occurrence of traffic accidents. This article seeks to estimate the prevalence of amphetamine use among truck drivers. Drivers (N = 134 were stopped on two different highways in Sao Paulo state and they were asked to answer a questionnaire and provide a urine sample for toxicological analysis. All data were analyzed on Stata 8.0. All participants were males with low levels of schooling, whose mean age was 40.8 years. The presence of amphetamines was detected in 10.8% of all urine samples collected, being commonly justified in order to make truck drivers able to maintain their state of awareness. Amphetamine use was detected among truck drivers on Sao Paulo highways. The problem is that when the stimulant effects wear off, sleepiness due to sleep deprivation reduces concentration and good driver performance, making drivers vulnerable to

Personal radiation burden for a truck driver on a five-day Budapest-Kijev-Budapest round trip

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feher, I.

1999-01-01

A truck route was filed from 30 June 1986 to 5 July 1986 from Budapest to Kiev and back. The trip took 50 hours driving and 86 hours waiting. The radiation dose due to the Chernobyl accident to the driver has been estimated. The driver was estimated to an exposure of 0.1 mSv dose which is about 1/25 of the average annual exposure of the population. Deterministic radiation injury could be caused by 10000 times of the above dose. (R.P.)

Driver drowsiness classification using fuzzy wavelet-packet-based feature-extraction algorithm.

Science.gov (United States)

Khushaba, Rami N; Kodagoda, Sarath; Lal, Sara; Dissanayake, Gamini

2011-01-01

Driver drowsiness and loss of vigilance are a major cause of road accidents. Monitoring physiological signals while driving provides the possibility of detecting and warning of drowsiness and fatigue. The aim of this paper is to maximize the amount of drowsiness-related information extracted from a set of electroencephalogram (EEG), electrooculogram (EOG), and electrocardiogram (ECG) signals during a simulation driving test. Specifically, we develop an efficient fuzzy mutual-information (MI)- based wavelet packet transform (FMIWPT) feature-extraction method for classifying the driver drowsiness state into one of predefined drowsiness levels. The proposed method estimates the required MI using a novel approach based on fuzzy memberships providing an accurate-information content-estimation measure. The quality of the extracted features was assessed on datasets collected from 31 drivers on a simulation test. The experimental results proved the significance of FMIWPT in extracting features that highly correlate with the different drowsiness levels achieving a classification accuracy of 95%-- 97% on an average across all subjects.

Epidemiological characteristics of fatal traffic accidents in Fars province, Iran: a community-based survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Heydari, S T; Hoseinzadeh, A; Ghaffarpasand, F; Hedjazi, A; Zarenezhad, M; Moafian, G; Aghabeigi, M R; Foroutan, A; Sarikhani, Y; Peymani, P; Ahmadi, S M; Joulaei, H; Dehghankhalili, M; Lankarani, K B

2013-08-01

To determine the epidemiological characteristics of fatal traffic accidents in Fars province, Iran. This cross-sectional study included 3642 traffic accident deaths in Fars province, Iran between November 2009 and November 2011. The data source was the Fars Forensic Medicine Registry, which covers the entire province. According to Iranian law, all deaths resulting from injuries or accidents must be investigated to determine the exact cause of death by autopsy. All such deaths are referred to forensic medicine centres in each city, and all data are sent to the main centre in Shiraz, the capital city of Fars province. Males accounted for 78.3% of the decedents (sex ratio of almost 3.6:1), and the mean ± standard deviation age of all decedents was 32.2 ± 20.3 years. Autopsy reports indicated that head trauma was the most common cause of death. Most collisions were vehicle-vehicle crashes (52.3%), with cars and motorcycles being the most prevalent modes of transport (39.6% and 24.6%, respectively). Fatal accidents were most common during the summer. Most fatal injuries (61.4%) occurred on outer-city roads and 27.4% occurred on inner-city roads. Significant associations were found between decedent's status (car driver, motorcycle driver or passenger, pedestrian or passenger) and interval between injury and death, light conditions at the scene of the accident, place of death, site of injury and cause of death. Although the clinical management of trauma patients has improved in Iran, coordination between trauma system organizations is required to decrease the burden of injuries. Copyright © 2013 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Understanding road safety in Kenya: views of matatu drivers.

Science.gov (United States)

Raynor, Nicolas J; Mirzoev, Tolib

2014-09-01

Road traffic accidents (RTAs) are estimated to cause 1.3 million deaths and 20-50 million injuries worldwide. Road safety is a challenge in Kenya with causes being multi-factorial. Matatus (minibuses) are involved in a large proportion of accidents. A literature review was completed to identify key issues and refine the scope of the study. The fieldwork included 20 semi-structured interviews with matatu drivers. All participants were male, with driving experience of 1-20 years. Thematic framework was used for analysis. Some unstructured observations on different road users and their behaviours were also recorded. Literature showed that the causes of RTAs in Kenya are multi-factorial, but that human factors play a large part. There is also an evidence gap concerning matatu drivers, who are key stakeholders in road safety. Fieldwork showed that the matatu industry creates financial pressures on drivers and an excessive level of competition, leading to dangerous driving. Corruption of traffic police appears to be a major barrier to improving road safety, as road safety legislation is not enforced, and bribery has become the cultural norm. The general public, including passengers and private vehicles owners, also cause problems by failing to understand their role in road safety and placing the blame on others. The key policy implication for improving road safety in Kenya is seeking measures to ensure responsibility by all road users through awareness raising in the short-term and reforming the matatu industry and addressing the root causes of corruption in the longer term. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

The impact of Stereotype Threat on the simulated driving performance of older drivers.

Science.gov (United States)

Joanisse, Mélanie; Gagnon, Sylvain; Voloaca, Mihnea

2013-01-01

Older drivers are perceived as being dangerous and overly cautious by other drivers. We tested the hypothesis that this negative stereotype has a direct influence on the performance of older drivers. Based on the Stereotype Threat literature, we predicted that older driving performance would be altered after exposure to a Stereotype Threat. Sixty-one older drivers aged 65 and above completed a simulated driving assessment course. Prior to testing, half of the participants were told that the objective of the study was to investigate why older adults aged 65 and above were more implicated in on-road accidents (Stereotype Threat condition) and half were showed a neutral statement. Results confirmed that exposure to the threat significantly altered driving performance. Older adults in the Stereotype Threat condition made more driving mistakes than those in the control group. Interestingly, under a Stereotype Threat condition, older adults tended to commit more speeding infractions. We also observed that domain identification (whether driving is deemed important or not) moderated the impact of the threat. Taken together, these results support recent older drivers' performance models suggesting that the interaction between individual and social factors need to be considered when examining older drivers' performance. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Epilepsy-related automobile accidents in Japan: legal changes about a precedent and penal regulations.

Science.gov (United States)

Imataka, G; Arisue, K

2016-01-01

In Japan, having epilepsy was defined as an absolute disqualification for driving license in the Road Traffic Act enacted in 1960. In view of subsequent changes in domestic road traffic conditions and advances in epilepsy treatment and owing to efforts by interested parties, the 2002 revision of the Road Traffic Act conditionally permitted epileptic patients to obtain a driver's license. However, as fatal traffic accidents associated with driving by epileptic patients continued thereafter, their legal responsibility for driving a car was extensively discussed in newspapers and other media as well as in the Diet. In June 2013, the Road Traffic Act was again revised to incorporate punitive clauses applicable to those with difficulty in driving (not limited to epilepsy only but including various diseases and conditions) who falsely claimed that they had no driving difficulty in the procedure for obtaining or renewing their driver's license. With this revision marking a turning point, the Act on Punishment for Acts That Cause Death or Injury to Others by Driving a Car was enforced as a new statute in May 2014. This paper presents five cases of traffic accidents involved with epileptic patients to explain the impact of these accidents on the 2013 legal revision and a subsequent trend of toughening of legal penalties.

The association between psychiatric disorders and work-related problems among subway drivers in Korea.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Se-Eun; Kim, Hyoung-Ryoul; Park, Jong-Ik; Lee, Hae Woo; Lee, Jongin; Byun, Junsu; Yim, Hyeon Woo

2014-01-01

This study aimed to find the prevalence and occupational risk factors for major psychiatric disorders among subway drivers in South Korea. Of all 998 current subway drivers, 995 participated in this study. The Korean version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (K-CIDI 2.1) was administered by trained interviewers to diagnose psychiatric disorders in all participants. The questions on socio-demographic characteristics and working conditions included some questions related to a person under train (PUT) experience and work-related problems. One-year prevalence and lifetime prevalence of major depressive disorder (MDD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and panic disorder were diagnosed through the interview. The standardized prevalence ratios (SPRs) of these three disorders were calculated in the sample of subway drivers using the 2011 Korean National Epidemiologic Survey data as a basis. Multiple logistic regressions were performed to determine the association between work-related factors and the prevalence of the psychiatric disorders. The standardized prevalence ratios (SPRs) for a 1-year prevalence of MDD and PTSD among subway drivers were 1.1 (95% CI 0.7-1.7) and 5.6 (95% CI 3.1-8.8), respectively. Conflict with passengers was significantly associated with an increased risk for both MDD and PTSD in 1-year and in lifetime prevalence. Experiencing a sudden stop due to an emergency bell increased the risk of the lifetime prevalence of MDD (OR 2.61, 95% CI 1.14-6.97) and PTSD (OR 7.53, 95% CI 1.77-32.02). The risk of PTSD significantly increased among drivers who once experienced a near accident in terms of both the 1-year prevalence (OR 8.81, 95% CI 1.96-39.3) and the lifetime prevalence (OR 6.36, 95% CI 2.40-16.90). PTSD and panic disorder were more prevalent among subway drivers than in the general population. We found that having a conflict with passengers, a near accident, and a breakdown while driving can be risk factors for psychiatric

Modelling of agricultural combination driver behaviour from the aspect of safety of movement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jan Szczepaniak

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Statistics show that the travel of agricultural machinery to a work area and their movement during labour is the source of many serious accidents. The most dangerous in consequences prove to be those that occur during transport and associated with maneuvering tractors and machinery (about 30% of all fatal accidents. It can be assumed that at least some of these accidents were caused indirectly by the specific design features of agricultural machines which adversely affect the driveability. The single- and multi-loop structures of the driver-vehicle system models are formulated to study the contributions of various preview and prediction strategies to the path tracking and dynamic performance of the articulated vehicle. In the presented study the compensatory model of driver utilizes the lateral acceleration of the tractor, roll angle of trailer sprung mass and the articulation rate as the internal motion feedback variables. The control model of steering of an agricultural set has been implemented in the Matlab/Simulink environment. The model has been constructed with the use of stochastic methods and operational transmittances describing the various components of the system. The model operational transmittances has been estimated using Box-Jenkins and continuous-time process models from input-output data. The model has been tested using experimental data from road investigation of the agricultural set.

Peripheral blood antigen presenting cell responses in otitis-prone and non-otitis-prone infants.

Science.gov (United States)

Surendran, Naveen; Nicolosi, Ted; Kaur, Ravinder; Pichichero, Michael E

2016-01-01

Stringently defined otitis-prone (sOP) children represent a new classification of the otitis-prone condition. Previous studies showed dysfunction in Ab, B-cell memory and T-cell memory responses. We sought to determine whether there are defects in numbers, phenotype and/or function of professional APC in the peripheral blood of sOP infants. APC phenotypic counts, MHC II expression and intracellular cytokine levels were determined in response to TLR7/8 (R848) stimulation by flow cytometry. Innate immune mRNA expression was measured using RT-PCR and cytokines were measured using Luminex technology. Significant (P otitis-prone (NOP) age-matched infants. No significant differences in APC activation or function were observed. Expression of various TLRs, intracellular signaling molecules and downstream cytokines was also not found to be significantly different between sOP and NOP infants. Higher numbers of APCs in sOP infants suggest the possibility of a persistent mucosal inflammatory status. Transcriptional and cytokine profiles of PBMCs among sOP infants suggest their systemic innate responses are not different compared to NOP infants. © The Author(s) 2015.

[Associations between chronotype, road accidents and polymorphisms in genes linked with biological clock and dopaminergic system].

Science.gov (United States)

Taranov, A O; Puchkova, A N; Slominsky, P A; Tupitsyna, T V; Dementiyenko, V V; Dorokhov, V B

2017-01-01

Public transport driving is a highly demanding activity requiring high skills and responsibility. Shift work, problems with regular sleep schedule negatively impact psychomotor reactions, cognitive functions and ability to react appropriately to the changing environment. For professional drivers all these factors may lead to the increased risk of a road accident. Individual differences in chronotype, cognitive and emotional control are partially genetically determined. Our study aimed to investigate the possible associations between chronotype parameters, traffic accident history and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in a number of genes: RORA (rs1159814), CLOCK (rs12649507), PER3 (rs2640909), NPSR1 (rs324981), NPAS2 (rs4851377), DRD3 (rs6280), SLC6A3 (rs6347), DBH (rs1611125). We have studied 303 professional bus drivers working on rolling shifts in the Moscow region who had a recorded history of road accidents. The studied group was genotyped on selected SNPs and has filled out two chronotype questionnaires: MCTQ and shortened SWPAQ (Putilov A.A, 2014). A mixed chronotype with high levels of morning and evening alertness prevailed in the group. A prominent social jetlag caused by shift work was found. For SNP in PER3 gene there was an association with morning activation. SNP in CLOCK gene was associated with social jetlag and the risk to cause a crash. Minor alleles of SNPs in NPSR1and SLC6A3 correlated with later chronotype and increased risk of a road accident. We suppose that these polymorphisms may be amongst the genetic factors connecting chronotype and road accident risk.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Neglected Health Concern among Commercial Motor Vehicle Drivers

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HR Saberi

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Background: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD is an anxiety disorder that may develop following a trauma. Iranian commercial motor vehicle drivers experience many road traffic accidents during their working life; this may increase the probability for developing PTSD, which in turn may lead to increased human errors as well as decreased work efficiency. Objective: To examine the prevalence of PTSD and its associated factors among a group of Iranian commercial motor vehicle drivers. Methods: In a cross-sectional study, 424 drivers who referred to participate in an annually training program were selected using a simple random sampling technique. They were requested to complete the Persian version of PCL-C and a data collection sheet about their occupational and demographic features. Results: 385 (90.8% of 424 studied drivers completed the study. 265 (68.8% of the drivers had first-grade driving license. The mean±SD on-the-job daily driving was 10.2±2.8 h. 74 of 385 (19.2%; 95% CI: 15.3%–23.2% met the PTSD criteria. Higher age and job experience as a professional driver, and having past history or past familial history of psychiatric disorders, were independent predictors of developing PTSD. The disease was more prevalent among drivers with first-grade driving license. Conclusion: The prevalence of PTSD among Iranian commercial motor vehicle drivers is higher than the figures reported elsewhere. Measures to diagnose of such drivers and to ensure optimum follow-up of victims before return to professional driving should be considered.

A Framework for Knowledge Management and Automated Reasoning Applied on Intelligent Transport Systems

OpenAIRE

Feljan, Aneta Vulgarakis; Karapantelakis, Athanasios; Mokrushin, Leonid; Liang, Hongxin; Inam, Rafia; Fersman, Elena; Azevedo, Carlos R. B.; Raizer, Klaus; Souza, Ricardo S.

2017-01-01

Cyber-Physical Systems in general, and Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) in particular use heterogeneous data sources combined with problem solving expertise in order to make critical decisions that may lead to some form of actions e.g., driver notifications, change of traffic light signals and braking to prevent an accident. Currently, a major part of the decision process is done by human domain experts, which is time-consuming, tedious and error-prone. Additionally, due to the intrinsic n...

Beyond prone position in percutaneous nephrolithotomy: a comprehensive review.

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de la Rosette, Jean J M C H; Tsakiris, Peter; Ferrandino, Michael N; Elsakka, Ahmed M; Rioja, Jorge; Preminger, Glenn M

2008-12-01

Percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PNL) is traditionally performed with the patient in the prone position. To assess the efficacy and safety of the prone and supine positions, particularly in obese patients and in those with staghorn calculi. A Medline search was conducted for articles published during the last 10 yr related to PNL in the prone and supine positions. This search revealed 9 published studies for supine and 25 for prone PNL. None of the supine PNL studies reported visceral injuries, while transfusion rates were 0.0-9.4% and stone-free rates were 69.6-95.0%. One study of supine PNL evaluated a significant proportion of obese patients. Prone PNL studies in obese patients report transfusion rates of 3.2-8.8% and stone-free rates of 79.0-89.2%. In the only randomized study, excluding obese patients and staghorn calculi, operative time favors the supine position. A nonrandomized comparative study demonstrated similar complication rates with insignificant improvement in treatment success for supine PNL; however, when comparing series with similar proportions of staghorn calculi cases, there are slightly improved outcomes for prone PNL. Moreover, comparison of weighted means favors prone PNL. For obese patients and staghorn calculi, prone PNL appears to be associated with decreased operative times with similar bleeding rates and slightly better stone-free rates than supine PNL.

Accidents involving Brazilian indigenous treated at urgent and emergency services of the Unified Health System.

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Souza, Edinilsa Ramos de; Njaine, Kathie; Mascarenhas, Márcio Dênis Medeiros; Oliveira, Maria Conceição de

2016-12-01

Abstract We analyzed the accidents with Brazilian indigenous treated at urgent and emergency services of the Unified Health System (SUS). Data were obtained from the 2014 Viva Survey, which included 86 services from 24 capitals and the Federal District. The demographic profile of the indigenous, the event and the attendance were characterized. Most of the attended people were male in the 20-39 years age group. Falls and traffic accidents were the main reasons for attendance. Alcohol use was informed by 5.6% of the attended people, a figure that increases to 19.1% in traffic accidents, 26.1% among drivers and 22.8% among motorcyclists. There was a statistical difference between genders in relation to age, disability, place of occurrence of the event, work-related event and victim's condition in the traffic accident. We emphasize the importance of providing visibility to accidents with indigenous and engage them in the prevention of such events. Data reliability depends on the adequate completion in indigenous health information systems.

Analysis of occupational accidents with biological material among professionals in pre-hospital services.

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de Oliveira, Adriana Cristina; Paiva, Maria Henriqueta Rocha Siqueira

2013-02-01

To estimate the prevalence of accidents due to biological material exposure, the characteristics and post-accident conduct among professionals of pre-hospital services of the four municipalities of Minas Gerais, Brazil. A cross-sectional study, using a structured questionnaire that was developed to enable the calculation of prevalence, descriptive analysis and analytical analysis using logistic regression. The study included 228 professionals; the prevalence of accidents due to biological material exposure was 29.4%, with 49.2% percutaneous, 10.4% mucousal, 6.0% non-intact skin, and 34.4% intact skin. Among the professionals injured, those that stood out were nursing technicians (41.9%) and drivers (28.3%). Notification of the occurrence of the accident occurred in 29.8% of the cases. Percutaneous exposure was associated with time of work in the organization (OR=2.51, 95% CI: 1.18 to 5.35, paccidents with biological material should be encouraged, along with professional evaluation/monitoring.

Risky Driving Attitudes and Self-Reported Traffic Violations Among Turkish Drivers : The Case of Eskişehir = Türk Sürücülerinin Kendi Bildirimlerine Dayanan Trafik İhlalleri ve Riskli Sürüş Tutumlari: Eskişehir Örneği

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H. Eray ÇELİK

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Risky driving attitude terminology is used to explain behaviors, which directly increase accident risk, such as over speeding or violation to traffic rules while driving and attitudes related to traffic safety. This study is focused on driver factors in traffic accidents and was carried out in order to show risky drivers' attitudes tendency, especially. In this study, in order to develop a risky driver attitude model, factors explaining obedience to speed rules, caring about traffic accidents, risk taking tendency in traffic and violations of basic traffic rules were studied. For this reason with the assistance of structural equation models LISREL 8.54 was used to try to develop a model, and fitness of the model has been discussed considering various fitness criteria. On the other hand, analysis of variance was performed for factors measuring sex, education level, age and driving experience, in order to portrait risky drivers.

Sleep Apnea Related Risk of Motor Vehicle Accidents is Reduced by Continuous Positive Airway Pressure: Swedish Traffic Accident Registry Data

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Karimi, Mahssa; Hedner, Jan; Häbel, Henrike; Nerman, Olle; Grote, Ludger

2015-01-01

Study Objectives: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with an increased risk of motor vehicle accidents (MVAs). The rate of MVAs in patients suspected of having OSA was determined and the effect of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) was investigated. Design: MVA rate in patients referred for OSA was compared to the rate in the general population using data from the Swedish Traffic Accident Registry (STRADA), stratified for age and calendar year. The risk factors for MVAs, using demographic and polygraphy data, and MVA rate before and after CPAP were evaluated in the patient group. Setting: Clinical sleep laboratory and population based control (n = 635,786). Patients: There were 1,478 patients, male sex 70.4%, mean age 53.6 (12.8) y. Interventions: CPAP. Measurements and Results: The number of accidents (n = 74) among patients was compared with the expected number (n = 30) from a control population (STRADA). An increased MVA risk ratio of 2.45 was found among patients compared with controls (P accident risk was most prominent in the elderly patients (65–80 y, seven versus two MVAs). In patients, driving distance (km/y), EDS (Epworth Sleepiness score ≥ 16), short habitual sleep time (≤ 5 h/night), and use of hypnotics were associated with increased MVA risk (odds ratios 1.2, 2.1, 2.7 and 2.1, all P ≤ 0.03). CPAP use ≥ 4 h/night was associated with a reduction of MVA incidence (7.6 to 2.5 accidents/1,000 drivers/y). Conclusions: The motor vehicle accident risk in this large cohort of unselected patients with obstructive sleep apnea suggests a need for accurate tools to identify individuals at risk. Sleep apnea severity (e.g., apnea-hypopnea index) failed to identify patients at risk. Citation: Karimi M, Hedner J, Häbel H, Nerman O, Grote L. Sleep apnea related risk of motor vehicle accidents is reduced by continuous positive airway pressure: Swedish traffic accident registry data. SLEEP 2015;38(3):341–349. PMID:25325460

Road Traffic Accidents - The Number One Killer in Libya

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Abdulmajid Ahmed Ali

2007-01-01

Full Text Available To The Editor: It is estimated that 1.26 million people worldwide died in 2000 from road traffic accidents, 90% of them in low and middle-income countries. In 2000, the road traffic injury mortality rate for the world was 20.8 per 100,000 populations (30.8 in males, 11.0 in females [1].The Arab population constitutes 3.6% of the world’s population and it owns 1% of the world’s vehicles. Its human losses as a result of road traffic accidents (RTA account for 4.8% of that of the world’s losses [2]. It is estimated that the annual cost of road crashes is about 1% of the Gross National Product (GNP in developing countries, 1.5 in transitional countries and 2% in highly motorised countries [3].In Libya the situation is worse. It is a sad fact that road traffic accidents are the number one killer in Libya. As a matter of fact I consider it to be an ‘epidemic’ in all sectors of the Libyan society. There is not a day that goes by in Libya without us hearing about families, young men, women and children getting killed in horrific car accidents.It is alarming that young children are knocked down on a daily basis by speeding young drivers, whose understanding of driving skills may have been acquired from "playstation games"! (You can watch some of the shameful video clips sent by some of these drivers on this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doWEDjiHlVoI feel it is our responsibility as physicians observing the situation to raise awareness about the scale of the problem, possible causes, and how to tackle it. POSSIBLE CAUSES:• A driving licence in Libya is not issued on the basis of how much you know. Therefore the majority of drivers know little or nothing about the law.• Wearing seat belts is not compulsory in most parts of Libya. In some places, especially in the Eastern part of Libya, you could be penalised for wearing one. I was stopped many years ago by the traffic police in the Eastern part of Libya because I was wearing sunglasses

Use of individual protection equipment and collective in case of accident during the transport of radioactive product - class 7

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pastura, Valeria da F. e S.; Carvalho, Natanael Bruno de

2013-01-01

The personal protective equipment (PPE) are devices used by professionals against potential radiological hazards that may threaten the health or safety in the event of an accident or incident during the transport of radioactive material. The collective protection equipment (CPE) devices are used in place of the accident in order to protect people and the environment from risks such as safety signs, among others. This work will be part of the new edition of the NBR 9735 - Set of equipment for emergencies in land transport of dangerous goods - edited by the Brazilian Association of Technical Standards ABNT - National Standardization Forum which CNEN participates in the Study Committee - CB16 namely, dangerous, accounting for Class 7 radioactive materials. The Standard 9735 establishes the minimum set of equipment for emergencies in Inland transport of dangerous goods, consisting of protective equipment to be used by the driver and staff involved (if any) in the transport operations of transport units, equipment for signaling, isolation of the area of occurrence (fault, accident and/or emergency). Thus, we will present a set of individual and collective equipment that must accompany the carriage of Class 7 products to meet the radiological accident situations and also establish a training base for the driver as the use of them. (author)

Detection of illicit drugs in impaired driver saliva by a field-usable SERS analyzer

Science.gov (United States)

Shende, Chetan; Huang, Hermes; Farquharson, Stuart

2014-05-01

One of the greatest dangers of drug use is in combination with driving. According to the most recent National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) studies, more than 11% of drivers tested positive for illicit drugs, while 18% of drivers killed in accidents tested positive for illicit, prescription or over-the-counter drugs. Consequently, there is a need for a rapid, noninvasive, roadside drug testing device, similar to the breathalyzers used by law enforcement officials to estimate blood alcohol levels of impaired drivers. In an effort to satisfy this need we have been developing a sampling kit that allows extraction of drugs from 1 mL of saliva and detection by surfaceenhanced Raman spectroscopy using a portable Raman analyzer. Here we describe the development of the sampling kit and present measurements of diazepam at sub μg/mL concentrations measured in ~15 minutes.

Teaching of severe accident of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plants of Tokyo Electric Power

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saito, Shinzo

2011-01-01

The Great East Japan Earthquake and accompanied tsunami brought about the severe accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plants of Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. For 'No more Fukushima', twelve teaching of the accident was pointed out as follows: 1) natural disasters and external events shall be taken into consideration, 2) severe accident shall be included into safety regulation, 3) all possibility of hydrogen explosion shall be excluded, 4) diversity of safety important component and equipment shall be added with sufficient period of outage, 5) siting of multiple units at the same site shall be avoided at quake-prone country like Japan, 6) accident response environment for operators shall be improved, 7) accident convergence termination system shall be established so as to concentrate technical experience and knowledge, 8) off-site center shall be improved, 9) resident evacuation, consumption limit of food, radiation exposure and soil contamination limit shall be decided openly, 10) nuclear regulation and prevention of disaster shall be conducted by unitary organization to gain public trust, 11) fostering of safety culture among relevant enterprises shall be more encouraged and 12) nuclear industry shall develop reactor such as with no core meltdown or no evacuation and environmental contamination even if reactor core would be meltdown. (T. Tanaka)

The Youth and Experience of Traffic Accidents (Grounded Theory

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Sayyed-Muhammad-Hossein Javadi

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Traffic accidents are among major causes of death all over the world. In Iran, it has become a social problem, with lots of people involved in; and the youth include the most victims of traffic accidents. Objectives: The main objective of this research is to review the experience of the youth (18–24 years old in Tehran, Iran with traffic accidents, and to develop a model to specify the factors. Methods: This study is based on Grounded Theory, in which a sample group of 50 young people, 18–24 years old, in Tehran, Iran, were selected and interviewed, using stratified purposive and snowball sampling method. Data is mainly collected by interviewing the youth in 7 key topics. To analyze the data, Grounded Theory is used through production of themes, components and concepts. Results: There are 11 general components for traffic accidents according to the ideas of the youth which will come in 3 categories including: individual factors (emotions, sensory-motor skills, and physical-mental health; environmental factors (road and traffic problems, a companion, using cellphone, or front individual, including carless drivers or passersby; and underlying factors (gender, legal and cultural infrastructures. And finally, the core category of carelessness, which is the leading cause in traffic accidents.    Conclusion: The findings indicate that a chain of various factors may cause traffic accidents with lots of devastating consequences. It is therefore necessary to modify driving culture, to internalize the attitude of caution, to use polyhedral strategies, and to apply them all correctly.

Traffic safety and step-by-step driving licence for young people

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tønning, Charlotte; Agerholm, Niels

2017-01-01

presents a review of safety effects from step-by-step driving licence schemes. Most of the investigated schemes consist of a step-by-step driving licence with Step 1) various tests and education, Step 2) a period where driving is only allowed together with an experienced driver and Step 3) driving without...... companion is allowed but with various restrictions and, in some cases, additional driving education and tests. In general, a step-by-step driving licence improves traffic safety even though the young people are permitted to drive a car earlier on. The effects from driving with an experienced driver vary......Young novice car drivers are much more accident-prone than other drivers - up to 10 times that of their parents' generation. A central solution to improve the traffic safety for this group is implementation of a step-by-step driving licence. A number of countries have introduced a step...

Suggestibility and signal detection performance in hallucination-prone students.

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Alganami, Fatimah; Varese, Filippo; Wagstaff, Graham F; Bentall, Richard P

2017-03-01

Auditory hallucinations are associated with signal detection biases. We examine the extent to which suggestions influence performance on a signal detection task (SDT) in highly hallucination-prone and low hallucination-prone students. We also explore the relationship between trait suggestibility, dissociation and hallucination proneness. In two experiments, students completed on-line measures of hallucination proneness (the revised Launay-Slade Hallucination Scale; LSHS-R), trait suggestibility (Inventory of Suggestibility) and dissociation (Dissociative Experiences Scale-II). Students in the upper and lower tertiles of the LSHS-R performed an auditory SDT. Prior to the task, suggestions were made pertaining to the number of expected targets (Experiment 1, N = 60: high vs. low suggestions; Experiment 2, N = 62, no suggestion vs. high suggestion vs. no voice suggestion). Correlational and regression analyses indicated that trait suggestibility and dissociation predicted hallucination proneness. Highly hallucination-prone students showed a higher SDT bias in both studies. In Experiment 1, both bias scores were significantly affected by suggestions to the same degree. In Experiment 2, highly hallucination-prone students were more reactive to the high suggestion condition than the controls. Suggestions may affect source-monitoring judgments, and this effect may be greater in those who have a predisposition towards hallucinatory experiences.

Driver Fatigue Detection System Using Electroencephalography Signals Based on Combined Entropy Features

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Zhendong Mu

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Driver fatigue has become one of the major causes of traffic accidents, and is a complicated physiological process. However, there is no effective method to detect driving fatigue. Electroencephalography (EEG signals are complex, unstable, and non-linear; non-linear analysis methods, such as entropy, maybe more appropriate. This study evaluates a combined entropy-based processing method of EEG data to detect driver fatigue. In this paper, 12 subjects were selected to take part in an experiment, obeying driving training in a virtual environment under the instruction of the operator. Four types of enthrones (spectrum entropy, approximate entropy, sample entropy and fuzzy entropy were used to extract features for the purpose of driver fatigue detection. Electrode selection process and a support vector machine (SVM classification algorithm were also proposed. The average recognition accuracy was 98.75%. Retrospective analysis of the EEG showed that the extracted features from electrodes T5, TP7, TP8 and FP1 may yield better performance. SVM classification algorithm using radial basis function as kernel function obtained better results. A combined entropy-based method demonstrates good classification performance for studying driver fatigue detection.

Comparative risk assessment of severe accidents in the energy sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burgherr, Peter; Hirschberg, Stefan

2014-01-01

Comparative assessment of accident risks in the energy sector is a key aspect in a comprehensive evaluation of sustainability and energy security concerns. Safety performance of energy systems can have important implications on the environmental, economic and social dimensions of sustainability as well as availability, acceptability and accessibility aspects of energy security. Therefore, this study provides a broad comparison of energy technologies based on the objective expression of accident risks for complete energy chains. For fossil chains and hydropower the extensive historical experience available in PSI's Energy-related Severe Accident Database (ENSAD) is used, whereas for nuclear a simplified probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) is applied, and evaluations of new renewables are based on a combination of available data, modeling, and expert judgment. Generally, OECD and EU 27 countries perform better than non-OECD. Fatality rates are lowest for Western hydropower and nuclear as well as for new renewables. In contrast, maximum consequences can be by far highest for nuclear and hydro, intermediate for fossil, and very small for new renewables, which are less prone to severe accidents. Centralized, low-carbon technology options could generally contribute to achieve large reductions in CO 2 -emissions; however, the principal challenge for both fossil with Carbon Capture and Storage and nuclear is public acceptance. Although, external costs of severe accidents are significantly smaller than those caused by air pollution, accidents can have disastrous and long-term impacts. Overall, no technology performs best or worst in all respects, thus tradeoffs and priorities are needed to balance the conflicting objectives such as energy security, sustainability and risk aversion to support rationale decision making. - Highlights: • Accident risks are compared across a broad range of energy technologies. • Analysis of historical experience was based on the

Attitudinal segmentaion of drivers in Pakistan: The potential for effective road safety campaigns.

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Batool, Zahara; Carsten, Oliver

2018-05-01

Deviant driving behaviors are considered as the main cause of Road Traffic Accidents in Pakistan. This research is founded on the premise that driving behaviors are mediated by attitudinal and motivational factors. It advocates that rather than simply aggregating drivers' responses or a-priori classification of them based on their personal characteristics, adoption of segmentation technique is more useful to look at multiple factors provoking aberrant driving behavior in combination and not just in isolation. For this, the study generated an Attitudinal Questionnaire, inspired by the Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB: Ajzen, 1991), and extended violation-scale of modified Driver Behavior Questionnaire (DBQ: Lawton et al., 1997). Attitudinal and behavioral items are first factor analyzed. Then, cluster analysis is performed on extracted attitudinal factors which classified sample driving population into four relatively homogenous and distinct groups of drivers. The results demonstrated the explanatory utility of the market segmentation approach to systematically relate the interaction between attitudes, behaviors and socio-demographic characteristics of drivers. It is concluded that the approach is successful in distinguishing safe drivers from unsafe driver and therefore, can legitimately form the basis of road safety interventions. Finally, the findings are used to recommend targeted information-based road safety solutions with a focus on the diverse characteristics of each of the identified segments. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Accurate and fast methods to estimate the population mutation rate from error prone sequences

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Miyamoto Michael M

2009-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The population mutation rate (θ remains one of the most fundamental parameters in genetics, ecology, and evolutionary biology. However, its accurate estimation can be seriously compromised when working with error prone data such as expressed sequence tags, low coverage draft sequences, and other such unfinished products. This study is premised on the simple idea that a random sequence error due to a chance accident during data collection or recording will be distributed within a population dataset as a singleton (i.e., as a polymorphic site where one sampled sequence exhibits a unique base relative to the common nucleotide of the others. Thus, one can avoid these random errors by ignoring the singletons within a dataset. Results This strategy is implemented under an infinite sites model that focuses on only the internal branches of the sample genealogy where a shared polymorphism can arise (i.e., a variable site where each alternative base is represented by at least two sequences. This approach is first used to derive independently the same new Watterson and Tajima estimators of θ, as recently reported by Achaz 1 for error prone sequences. It is then used to modify the recent, full, maximum-likelihood model of Knudsen and Miyamoto 2, which incorporates various factors for experimental error and design with those for coalescence and mutation. These new methods are all accurate and fast according to evolutionary simulations and analyses of a real complex population dataset for the California seahare. Conclusion In light of these results, we recommend the use of these three new methods for the determination of θ from error prone sequences. In particular, we advocate the new maximum likelihood model as a starting point for the further development of more complex coalescent/mutation models that also account for experimental error and design.

Drivers' social-work relationships as antecedents of unsafe driving: A social network perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Arizon Peretz, Renana; Luria, Gil

2017-09-01

In order to reduce road accidents rates, studies around the globe have attempted to shed light on the antecedents for unsafe road behaviors. The aim of the current research is to contribute to this literature by offering a new organizational antecedent of driver's unsafe behavior: The driver's relationships with his or her peers, as reflected in three types of social networks: negative relationships network, friendship networks and advice networks (safety consulting). We hypothesized that a driver's position in negative relationship networks, friendship networks, and advice networks will predict unsafe driving. Additionally, we hypothesized the existence of mutual influences among the driver's positions in these various networks, and suggested that the driver's positions interact to predict unsafe driving behaviors. The research included 83 professional drivers from four different organizations. Driving behavior data were gathered via the IVDR (In-Vehicle Data Recorder) system, installed in every truck to measure and record the driver's behavior. The findings indicated that the drivers' position in the team networks predicts safe driving behavior: Centrality in negative relationship networks is positively related to unsafe driving, and centrality in friendship networks is negatively related to unsafe driving, while centrality in advice networks is not related to unsafe driving. Furthermore, we found an interaction effect between negative network centrality and centrality in friendship networks. The relation between negative networks and unsafe behavior is weaker when high levels of friendship network centrality exist. The implications will be presented in the Discussion section. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Prevalence of at-risk drinking among Brazilian truck drivers and its interference on the performance of executive cognitive tasks.

Science.gov (United States)

de Oliveira, Lucio Garcia; Leopoldo, Kae; Gouvea, Marcela Julio Cesar; Barroso, Lucia Pereira; Gouveia, Paula Adriana Rodrigues; Muñoz, Daniel Romero; Leyton, Vilma

2016-09-01

Binge drinking (BD) has been associated with an increase in the risk of alcohol-related injuries. Alcohol continues to be the main substance consumed by truck drivers, a population of special concern, since they are often involved in traffic accidents. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of BD and its interference in the executive functioning among truck drivers in Sao Paulo, Brazil. A non-probabilistic sample of 684 truck drivers was requested to answer a structured research instrument on their demographic data and alcohol use. They performed cognitive tests to assess their executive functioning and inventories about confounding variables. The participants were then divided according to their involvement in BD. 17.5% of the interviewees have reported being engaged in BD. Binge drinkers showed a better performance on one test, despite having done so at the expense of more mistakes and lower accuracy. More interestingly, binge drinkers took three seconds longer than non-binge drinkers to inhibit an inadequate response, which is worrisome in the context of traffic. Overall, the deleterious effect of BD on performance remained after controlling for the effects of confounding variables in regression logistic models. As the use of alcohol among truck drivers may be as a way to get by with their work conditions, we believe that a negotiation between their work organization and public authorities would reduce such use, preventing negative interferences on truck drivers' cognitive functioning, which by its turn may also prevent traffic accidents. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ethnic and gender differences in boredom proneness

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gibson, G.S.; Morales,

1996-02-01

Although boredom may exhibit many shared elements, culturally specific attitudes have also been found to exist. The present paper investigated boredom proneness among African-American college students. Data from 120 participants on the Boredom Proneness (BP) Scale was analyzed and compared to cross-cultural participants. African-American females scored significantly higher than African-American males. Scores were presented from two other studies to show a comparative look at boredom proneness in five other ethnic groups. African-American females are the only female ethnic group to score higher on the BP Scale than their male counterparts. Additionally, overall African-Americans, were found to have higher BP scores than their Western counterparts.

Accident risk associated with smartphone addiction: A study on university students in Korea.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Hye-Jin; Min, Jin-Young; Kim, Hyun-Jin; Min, Kyoung-Bok

2017-12-01

Background and aims The smartphone is one of the most popular devices, with the average smartphone usage at 162 min/day and the average length of phone usage at 15.79 hr/week. Although significant concerns have been made about the health effects of smartphone addiction, the relationship between smartphone addiction and accidents has rarely been studied. We examined the association between smartphone addiction and accidents among South Korean university students. Methods A total of 608 college students completed an online survey that included their experience of accidents (total number; traffic accidents; falls/slips; bumps/collisions; being trapped in the subway, impalement, cuts, and exit wounds; and burns or electric shocks), their use of smartphone, the type of smartphone content they most frequently used, and other variables of interests. Smartphone addiction was estimated using Smartphone Addiction Proneness Scale, a standardized measure developed by the National Institution in Korea. Results Compared with normal users, participants who were addicted to smartphones were more likely to have experienced any accidents (OR = 1.90, 95% CI: 1.26-2.86), falling from height/slipping (OR = 2.08, 95% CI: 1.10-3.91), and bumps/collisions (OR = 1.83, 95% CI: 1.16-2.87). The proportion of participants who used their smartphones mainly for entertainment was significantly high in both the accident (38.76%) and smartphone addiction (36.40%) groups. Discussion and conclusions We suggest that smartphone addiction was significantly associated with total accident, falling/slipping, and bumps/collisions. This finding highlighted the need for increased awareness of the risk of accidents with smartphone addiction.

Prone position for the prevention of lung infection.

Science.gov (United States)

Beuret, P

2002-04-01

Pulmonary infection is frequent in brain injured patients. It has been identified as an independent predictor of unfavorable neurological outcome, calling for attempts of prevention. We recently evaluated intermittent prone positioning for the prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in comatose brain injured patients, in a randomized study. 25 patients were included in the prone position (PP) group: they were positioned on prone four hours once daily until they could get up to sit in an armchair; 26 patients were included in the supine position (SP) group. The main characteristics of the patients from the two groups were similar at randomization. The primary end-point was the incidence of lung worsening, defined by an increase in the Lung Injury Score by at least one point since the time of randomization. The incidence of lung worsening was lower in the PP group (12%) than in the SP group (50%) (p=0.003). The incidence of VAP was 38.4% in the SP group and 20% in the PP group (p=0.14). There was no serious complication attributable to prone positioning. In conclusion, the beneficial effect of prone positioning for prevention of lung infection in brain injured patients is not well established. However, in those patients, prone positioning is able to avoid the worsening of pulmonary function, especially in oxygenation.

Prognostic significance of specific injury patterns in casualties of traffic-related accidents.

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Calosevic, Srdjan; Lovric, Zvonimir

2015-11-01

Fatal triad and ipsilateral dyad are patterns of pedestrian injuries related to significant mortality in traffic-related accidents. The aim of this research was to investigate the correlation between specific injury patterns and fatal outcome in other participants of traffic-related accidents. This was a retrospective study of traffic-related accidents in the broader area of the city of Osijek in a five-year period from 1995 to 1999. Autopsy results from the Institute of Pathology and Forensic Medicine of the Clinical Hospital Centre Osijek were analysed of individuals who died after their accident. The total severity of injuries was measured using the ISS. Logistic regression analysis was used for assessing the correlation between specific injury patterns and an early outcome from the severe injury. There were 213 individuals included in the study: 72 pedestrians and 141 other participants (drivers, assistant drivers, passengers, cyclists and motorcyclists). A total of129 individuals died on the spot and 84 died in the hospital during the first 48h. Femoral and pelvic fracture, fatal triad and both variants of ipsilateral dyad were related to higher ISS values. Ipsilateral fracture of upper and lower extremities (ipsilateral dyad 1) was associated with a 4.59 times higher risk of an immediate fatal outcome in the total sample. In pedestrians, the risk was 5.99 higher, and in other participants, the risk was 4.11 times higher. Specific skeletal injuries and injury patterns are a significant indicator for total injury severity and related poor prognosis for all participants of traffic-related injuries, not only for pedestrians. In this study, the ipsilateral fracture of upper and lower extremity was related to the largest total severity of injuries and the poorest prognosis. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Accidents - Chernobyl accident

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2004-01-01

This file is devoted to the Chernobyl accident. It is divided in four parts. The first part concerns the accident itself and its technical management. The second part is relative to the radiation doses and the different contaminations. The third part reports the sanitary effects, the determinists ones and the stochastic ones. The fourth and last part relates the consequences for the other European countries with the case of France. Through the different parts a point is tackled with the measures taken after the accident by the other countries to manage an accident, the cooperation between the different countries and the groups of research and studies about the reactors safety, and also with the international medical cooperation, specially for the children, everything in relation with the Chernobyl accident. (N.C.)

Analysis of Traffic Accidents Leading to Death Using Tripod Beta Method in Yazd, Iran

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Mehrzad Ebrahemzadih

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This study tried to find the original causes of road accidents to prevent their occurrence. This was a descriptive-analytic retrospective study which assessed 1,000 cases of road accidents leading to death during 2003-2013 using the Tripod Beta method. The latent problems, the contributing preconditions, and corrective strategies for the prevention of occurrence of these accidents were determined. The findings of this study revealed that violation of traffic safety rules, especially deliberate violations and risk-takings decreased with increasing age. In comparative status of the superficial problems, illegal and impermissible speed of drivers accounted for 19.10%, in comparative status of preconditions, violation of safety rules accounted for 32.6% and finally, in comparative status of the latent problems, the presence of financial constraints and time pressure in designing and manufacturing of the cars, and quality of city streets, roads, accounted for 20.1%, of the leading causes of occurrence of accidents in this study.

A Context-Aware EEG Headset System for Early Detection of Driver Drowsiness

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Gang Li

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Driver drowsiness is a major cause of mortality in traffic accidents worldwide. Electroencephalographic (EEG signal, which reflects the brain activities, is more directly related to drowsiness. Thus, many Brain-Machine-Interface (BMI systems have been proposed to detect driver drowsiness. However, detecting driver drowsiness at its early stage poses a major practical hurdle when using existing BMI systems. This study proposes a context-aware BMI system aimed to detect driver drowsiness at its early stage by enriching the EEG data with the intensity of head-movements. The proposed system is carefully designed for low-power consumption with on-chip feature extraction and low energy Bluetooth connection. Also, the proposed system is implemented using JAVA programming language as a mobile application for on-line analysis. In total, 266 datasets obtained from six subjects who participated in a one-hour monotonous driving simulation experiment were used to evaluate this system. According to a video-based reference, the proposed system obtained an overall detection accuracy of 82.71% for classifying alert and slightly drowsy events by using EEG data alone and 96.24% by using the hybrid data of head-movement and EEG. These results indicate that the combination of EEG data and head-movement contextual information constitutes a robust solution for the early detection of driver drowsiness.

Geometrical Design Errors in Duhok Intersections by Driver Behavior

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Dilshad Ali Mohammed

2018-03-01

Full Text Available In many situations, drivers if certain of the absence traffic monitoring system tend to shorten their driving paths and travel time across intersections. This behavior will be encouraged if the geometrical design suffers from mistakes, or the geometrical design and road conditions make it harder for drivers to follow the correct routes. Sometimes the intersection arrangement is confusing for the driver to distinguish the right from the wrong track. In this study, two sites with large number of driving mistakes were noticed. One site is a roundabout within the university of Duhok campus. The other is the intersection just outside the University of Duhok eastern main gate. At both sites, the geometry is very confusing and encourage driving mistakes. The university roundabout which was the first site investigated, was not properly designed encouraging wrong side driving. Many traffic accidents took place at this roundabout.  Wrong side driving reaches 32 % at peak hour in one approach.  This was reduced to 6% when temporary divisional island was installed. The other approach has a 15% wrong side driving and no remedy could be done to it. At the intersection near the university gate, wrong side driving reaches 56% of the traffic emerging from the main gate at peak hour. This was reduced to 14% when drivers are guided through direction sign. This percentage was reduced further to 9% with standing policeman.

Driving behaviors and on-duty road accidents: a French case-control study.

Science.gov (United States)

Fort, Emmanuel; Chiron, Mireille; Davezies, Philippe; Bergeret, Alain; Charbotel, Barbara

2013-01-01

A case-control study was carried out to identify driving behaviors associated with the risk of on-duty road accident and to compare driving behaviors according to the type of journey (on duty, commuting, and private) for on-duty road accident victims. Cases were recruited from the Rhône Road Trauma Registry between January 2004 and October 2005 and were on duty at the time of the accident. Control subjects were recruited from the electoral rolls of the case subjects' constituencies of residence. Cases' and controls' driving behavior data were collected by self-administered questionnaire. A logistic regression was performed to identify behavioral risk factors for on-duty road accidents, taking into account age, sex, place of residence, road accident risk exposure, socio-occupational category, and type of road user. A second analysis focused specifically on the case subjects, comparing their self-assessed usual behaviors according to the type of journey. Significant factors for multivariate analysis of on-duty road accidents were female gender, history of on-duty road accidents during the previous 10 years, severe time pressure at work, and driving a vehicle not belonging to the driver. On-duty road accident victims reported behavioral risk factors more frequently in relation to driving for work than driving for private reasons or commuting: nonsystematic seat belt use, cell phone use at least once daily while driving, and history of accidents with injury during the previous 10 years. This study provides knowledge on behavioral risk factors for on-duty road accidents and differences in behavior according to the type of journey for subjects who have been on-duty road accident victims. These results will be useful for the design of on-duty road risk prevention.

Incomplete understanding of biogas chemical hazards – Serious gas poisoning accident while unloading food waste at biogas plant

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hedlund, Frank Huess; Madsen, Michael

2018-01-01

. Ventilation systems were overwhelmed. The driver narrowly escaped death. Several would-be rescuers collapsed. Under marginally different conditions, this accident could have led to five fatalities. The case offers a rich account of the actions of fellow workers who with stubborn determination sought...

Road Accident Mortality Rate of the Iranian Elderly from 2006 to 2008

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Mohammad reza Ghadirzadeh

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Objectives: Mortality rate in traffic accident is high for Iranian elderly. Twenty percent of elderly people are involved in traffic accident in Iran `s cities every year. Methods & Materials: This study is a descriptive cross sectional study. All data in this field from 2006 to 2008 collected from forensic medicine centers across the country and were analyzed with SPSS software. Results: In general, 12029 deaths due to traffic accident occurred in people over 60 years old in Iran from 2006 to 2008. On average 65% of deaths were occurred in young-old: 34.5% in old group and 0.5% in the old-old group. In these years 19.2% of death in elderly people was occurred in drivers, 56.9% in pedestrians and 23.2% in occupants. On average, each year 46% of deaths in traffic accidents were happened in cities 46.3% on suburban roads, and 6.8% were occurred on rural roads. Conclusion: The rate of traffic accident in Iran is about 20 folds in compare to those of other countries. In years of study mortality rate in old and old-old age groups were increased and in young-old group was decreased. The frequency of deaths in elderly people due to traffic accidents was decreased in suburban roads and increased in urban roads.

INFLUENCE OF HMI ERGONOMY ON DRIVERS IN COOPERATIVE SYSTEMS AREA

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Tomáš Jizba

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Modern vehicles are getting smarter and utilize more and more the advantages of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS. Deployment of upcoming technologies, such as cooperative systems (V2X, will most likely be the key step towards a significant reduction of accidents across the globe. Some of these systems extend driver’s field of vision, so the driver can be forewarned against a wide range of threats. Unlike technology, the human processing capacity has remained almost unchanged over centuries. Therefore, it is necessary to bear in mind that drivers have restricted capabilities to process multiple warnings. In this context, an important question arises: How can be V2X warnings integrated into the Human Machine Interface (HMI of vehicles, and what warning policy is needed to ensure high usability, acceptance, efficiency and understanding of such a warning interface from the driver’s point of view. Using a human centered design approach, two concepts of visual driver-vehicle interface for V2X warnings were developed and evaluated. One of those interfaces was based on a 1-stage warning policy and the second one utilized a dynamic 3-stage warning approach. The research revealed that drivers prefer to have dynamic warnings that correspond with the level of danger to which they are exposed, rather than only one warning displayed in a situation of imminent danger. However, with regards to overall usability score and workload measurements, results showed that the 3-stage system performed worse in comparison with the 1-stage system.

Difficulties in emotion regulation and risky driving among Lithuanian drivers.

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Šeibokaitė, Laura; Endriulaitienė, Auksė; Sullman, Mark J M; Markšaitytė, Rasa; Žardeckaitė-Matulaitienė, Kristina

2017-10-03

Risky driving is a common cause of traffic accidents and injuries. However, there is no clear evidence of how difficulties in emotion regulation contribute to risky driving behavior, particularly in small post-Soviet countries. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between difficulties in emotion regulation and self-reported risky driving behavior in a sample of Lithuanian drivers. A total of 246 nonprofessional Lithuanian drivers participated in a cross-sectional survey. Difficulties in emotion regulation were assessed using the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS; Gratz and Roemer 2004), and risky driving behavior was assessed using the Manchester Driver Behaviour Questionnaire (DBQ; Lajunen et al. 2004). Males scored higher than females in aggressive violations and ordinary violations. Females scored higher for the nonacceptance of emotional responses, whereas males had more difficulties with emotional awareness than females. More difficulties in emotion regulation were positively correlated with driving errors, lapses, aggressive violations, and ordinary violations for both males and females. Structural equation modeling showed that difficulties in emotion regulation explained aggressive and ordinary violations more clearly than lapses and errors. When controlling for interactions among the distinct regulation difficulties, difficulties with impulse control and difficulties engaging in goal-directed behavior predicted risky driving. Furthermore, nonacceptance of emotional responses and limited access to emotion regulation strategies were related to less violations and more driving errors. Emotion regulation difficulties were associated with the self-reported risky driving behaviors of Lithuanian drivers. This provides useful hints for improving driver training programs in order to prevent traffic injuries.

Risk-based Analysis of Construction Accidents in Iran During 2007-2011-Meta Analyze Study

Science.gov (United States)

AMIRI, Mehran; ARDESHIR, Abdollah; FAZEL ZARANDI, Mohammad Hossein

2014-01-01

Abstract Background The present study aimed to investigate the characteristics of occupational accidents and frequency and severity of work related accidents in the construction industry among Iranian insured workers during the years 20072011. Methods The Iranian Social Security Organization (ISSO) accident database containing 21,864 cases between the years 2007-2011 was applied in this study. In the next step, Total Accident Rate (TRA), Total Severity Index (TSI), and Risk Factor (RF) were defined. The core of this work is devoted to analyzing the data from different perspectives such as age of workers, occupation and construction phase, day of the week, time of the day, seasonal analysis, regional considerations, type of accident, and body parts affected. Results Workers between 15-19 years old (TAR=13.4%) are almost six times more exposed to risk of accident than the average of all ages (TAR=2.51%). Laborers and structural workers (TAR=66.6%) and those working at heights (TAR=47.2%) experience more accidents than other groups of workers. Moreover, older workers over 65 years old (TSI=1.97%> average TSI=1.60%), work supervisors (TSI=12.20% >average TSI=9.09%), and night shift workers (TSI=1.89% >average TSI=1.47%) are more prone to severe accidents. Conclusion It is recommended that laborers, young workers, weekend and night shift workers be supervised more carefully in the workplace. Use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) should be compulsory in working environments, and special attention should be undertaken to people working outdoors and at heights. It is also suggested that policymakers pay more attention to the improvement of safety conditions in deprived and cold western regions. PMID:26005662

Risk-based Analysis of Construction Accidents in Iran During 2007-2011-Meta Analyze Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Amiri, Mehran; Ardeshir, Abdollah; Fazel Zarandi, Mohammad Hossein

2014-04-01

The present study aimed to investigate the characteristics of occupational accidents and frequency and severity of work related accidents in the construction industry among Iranian insured workers during the years 20072011. The Iranian Social Security Organization (ISSO) accident database containing 21,864 cases between the years 2007-2011 was applied in this study. In the next step, Total Accident Rate (TRA), Total Severity Index (TSI), and Risk Factor (RF) were defined. The core of this work is devoted to analyzing the data from different perspectives such as age of workers, occupation and construction phase, day of the week, time of the day, seasonal analysis, regional considerations, type of accident, and body parts affected. Workers between 15-19 years old (TAR=13.4%) are almost six times more exposed to risk of accident than the average of all ages (TAR=2.51%). Laborers and structural workers (TAR=66.6%) and those working at heights (TAR=47.2%) experience more accidents than other groups of workers. Moreover, older workers over 65 years old (TSI=1.97%> average TSI=1.60%), work supervisors (TSI=12.20% >average TSI=9.09%), and night shift workers (TSI=1.89% >average TSI=1.47%) are more prone to severe accidents. It is recommended that laborers, young workers, weekend and night shift workers be supervised more carefully in the workplace. Use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) should be compulsory in working environments, and special attention should be undertaken to people working outdoors and at heights. It is also suggested that policymakers pay more attention to the improvement of safety conditions in deprived and cold western regions.

Vocational interests and career indecision among psychosis-prone college students.

Science.gov (United States)

Poreh, A M; Schullen, C

1998-10-01

This study investigated the relationship between scores on scales that purport to measure psychosis-proneness and scores on vocational interests, identity, and differentiation scales in a sample of 233 college students who completed the Perceptual Aberration and Magical Ideation scales, the Strong Campbell Interest Inventory, and the Career Decision Scale. The present findings are consistent with prior work indicating a sex-related association of scores on measures of psychosis-proneness and vocational interests. A positive correlation between scores on vocational indecision and measures of psychosis-proneness was also found, suggesting that both men and women who score high on psychosis-proneness find it difficult to formulate long-term career goals. Finally, there was no significant correlation between scores on measures of psychosis-proneness and Holland's Vocational Differentiation Index. Present results are discussed in light of previously reported sex differences among psychosis-prone adults and diagnosed schizophrenics. The implications of the findings for vocational counselors are also addressed.

Risk factors for automobile accidents caused by falling asleep while driving in obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Arita, Aki; Sasanabe, Ryujiro; Hasegawa, Rika; Nomura, Atsuhiko; Hori, Reiko; Mano, Mamiko; Konishi, Noriyuki; Shiomi, Toshiaki

2015-12-01

We examined the risk factors for automobile accidents caused by falling asleep while driving in subjects with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). We asked licensed drivers with history of snoring and excessive daytime sleepiness who had undergone polysomnography (PSG) at the Department of Sleep Medicine/Sleep Disorders Center at Aichi Medical University Hospital to complete the questionnaires on accidents caused by falling asleep while driving. As a subjective measure of sleepiness, we used the Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS). Based on PSG results, 2387 subjects diagnosed with OSAS were divided into three groups according to apnea-hypopnea index (AHI): mild-to-moderate (5 ≤ AHI accidents in the past 5 years due to falling asleep. Our multivariate analysis suggests that scores on the ESS and patient-reported frequency of feeling drowsy while regular driving and working are related to automobile accidents caused by falling asleep while driving.

Mental disorders and delivery motorcycle drivers (motoboys): a dangerous association.

Science.gov (United States)

Kieling, R R; Szobot, C M; Matte, B; Coelho, R S; Kieling, C; Pechansky, F; Rohde, L A

2011-01-01

Low and middle-income countries experience an expressive growth in the number of circulating motorcycles, paralleled by an increasing number of traffic accidents. Delivery motorcycles drivers ("motoboys") are generally perceived as accountable for this scenario. Although traffic accidents have a multivariate etiology, mental disorders, such as substance use disorders (SUD) and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), are often involved. This paper aims at investigating the prevalence of ADHD, SUD and other mental disorders in a sample of Brazilian motoboys, and additionally, to evaluate the association between psychiatric diagnoses, motorcycle accidents and traffic violation tickets. A convenient sample of subjects was invited to participate in a cross-sectional assessment including an inventory of traffic accidents and violations. Psychiatric diagnoses were based on semi-structured and clinical interviews. A sample of 101 motoboys was assessed. Overall, 75% of subjects had a positive lifetime history of at least one psychiatric disorder. SUD was the most frequent diagnosis (43.6% for alcohol, 39.6% for cannabis). ADHD was associated with a higher number of traffic accidents (p=0.002), and antisocial personality disorder (APD) was associated with a greater number of traffic violations (p=0.007). The prevalence of mental disorders was much higher in our sample than in the general population. ADHD and APD, but not SUD, were associated with negative traffic outcomes. These findings have implications for public mental health planning since mental disorders can be both prevented and treated, improving driving behavior and increasing road safety. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Ketosis-Onset Diabetes and Ketosis-Prone Diabetes: Same or Not?

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Beiyan; Yu, Changhua; Li, Qiang; Li, Lin

2013-01-01

Objective. To compare clinical characteristics, immunological markers, and β-cell functions of 4 subgroups (“Aβ” classification system) of ketosis-onset diabetes and ketosis prone diabetes patients without known diabetes, presenting with ketosis or diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) and admitted to our department from March 2011 to December 2011 in China, with 50 healthy persons as control group. Results. β-cell functional reserve was preserved in 63.52% of patients. In almost each subgroup (except A−  β− subgroup of ketosis prone group), male patients were more than female ones. The age of the majority of patients in ketosis prone group was older than that of ketosis-onset group, except A−  β− subgroup of ketosis prone group. The durations from the patient first time ketosis or DKA onset to admitting to the hospital have significant difference, which were much longer for the ketosis prone group except the A+ β+ subgroup. BMI has no significant difference among subgroups. FPG of ketosis prone group was lower than that of A−  β+ subgroup and A+ β+ subgroup in ketosis-onset group. A−  β− subgroup and A+ β+ subgroup of ketosis prone group have lower HbA1c than ketosis-onset group. Conclusions. Ketosis-onset diabetes and ketosis prone diabetes do not absolutely have the same clinical characteristics. Each subgroup shows different specialty. PMID:23710177

"Jumping to conclusions" in delusion-prone participants: an experimental economics approach.

Science.gov (United States)

van der Leer, Leslie; McKay, Ryan

2014-01-01

That delusional and delusion-prone individuals "jump to conclusions" on probabilistic reasoning tasks is a key finding in cognitive neuropsychiatry. Here we focused on a less frequently investigated aspect of "jumping to conclusions" (JTC): certainty judgments. We incorporated rigorous procedures from experimental economics to eliminate potential confounds of miscomprehension and motivation and systematically investigated the effect of incentives on task performance. Low- and high-delusion-prone participants (n = 109) completed a series of computerised trials; on each trial, they were shown a black or a white fish, caught from one of the two lakes containing fish of both colours in complementary ratios. In the betting condition, participants were given £4 to distribute over the two lakes as they wished; in the control condition, participants simply provided an estimate of how probable each lake was. Deviations from Bayesian probabilities were investigated. Whereas high-delusion-prone participants in both the control and betting conditions underestimated the Bayesian probabilities (i.e. were conservative), low-delusion-prone participants in the control condition underestimated but those in the betting condition provided accurate estimates. In the control condition, there was a trend for high-delusion-prone participants to give higher estimates than low-delusion-prone participants, which is consistent with previous reports of "jumping to conclusions" in delusion-prone participants. However, our findings in the betting condition, where high-delusion-prone participants provided lower estimates than low-delusion-prone participants (who were accurate), are inconsistent with the jumping-to-conclusions effect in both a relative and an absolute sense. Our findings highlight the key role of task incentives and underscore the importance of comparing the responses of delusion-prone participants to an objective rational standard as well as to the responses of non-delusion-prone

Prevalence and risk factors of alcohol and substance abuse among motorcycle drivers in Fars province, Iran

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Seyed Taghi Heydari; Mehrdad Vossoughi; Armin Akbarzadeh; Kamran B.Lankarani; Yaser Sarikhani; Kazem Javanmardi; Ali Akbary

2016-01-01

Purpose:The aim of this present study is to investigate the prevalence of alcohol and substance abuse (ASA) and its relationship with other risky driving behaviors among motorcycle drivers.Methods:This is a cross sectional study which is performed at Shiraz city of Iran.Data from motorcycle drivers were collected using a standard questionnaire in eight major streets at different times of the dayThe data includes consumption of alcohol and other substances two hours before driving and some of the risky behaviors during driving.Results:A total of 414 drivers with a mean ± SD age of(27.0 + 9.3) years participated in the study.Alcohol or substance consumptions two hours before driving was significantly associated with risky driving behaviors such as using mobile phone during driving,poor maneuvering,and driving over the speed limit (both p ＜ 0.001).It was also associated with carelessness about safety such as driving with technical defects (p ＜ 0.001) and not wearing a crash helmet (p =0.008).Conclusion:Screening for alcohol and substance consumption among motorcycle drivers is an efficient way to identifiy drivers that are at a greater risk for road traffic accidents.

[Design and validation of a questionnaire exploring risky-driving patterns in young drivers].

Science.gov (United States)

Jiménez Mejías, Eladio; Luna del Castillo, Juan de Dios; Amezcua Prieto, Carmen; Olvera Porcel, María Carmen; Lardelli Claret, Pablo; Jiménez Moleón, José Juan

2012-01-01

Traffic Injuries are a major public health problem, especially among young people. However, we have not found any useful questionnaire designed in our country for the epidemiological research in this field. The objective of this study was to design and validate an easy and quickly-to-fill questionnaire aimed to collect information on how frequently university car drivers report to be involved in driving circumstances theoretically related to traffic crashes. Between 2007 and 2010, a total of 1597 young undergraduate students at the University of Granada answered a self-administered questionnaire collecting information about exposure, accidents and involvement in 28 different driving circumstances. For designing this questionnaire, an extensive literature review was carried out and the opinions of five experts in a panel were also taken into account. By applying the tetracoric correlation coefficient, we conducted a factor analysis. Internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Finally, we evaluated the crude and adjusted association of each identified factor with the odds for having suffered an accident. After excluding 8 circumstances, the remaining ones were grouped into three factors: the first one included ten high-prevalence circumstances and explained 31.9% of the total variability. Meanwhile, the other two factors included five circumstances each one which respectively explained 15.2% and 12.5% of the variability. Cronbach's alpha coefficients ranged between 0.816 and 0.553. When adjustments according age, sex, years in possession of the driving license and intensity of exposure were made, the first factor obtained the score more strongly associated with the accident rate (OR = 1.51; CI95%: 1.25-1.85). The final version (20 circumstances) identified three factors related to higher accident rates among the young drivers. The first one integrated, among other circumstances, the excessive speed and driving while sleepy or tired and it

Sleep apnea-related risk of motor vehicle accidents is reduced by continuous positive airway pressure: Swedish Traffic Accident Registry data.

Science.gov (United States)

Karimi, Mahssa; Hedner, Jan; Häbel, Henrike; Nerman, Olle; Grote, Ludger

2015-03-01

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with an increased risk of motor vehicle accidents (MVAs). The rate of MVAs in patients suspected of having OSA was determined and the effect of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) was investigated. MVA rate in patients referred for OSA was compared to the rate in the general population using data from the Swedish Traffic Accident Registry (STRADA), stratified for age and calendar year. The risk factors for MVAs, using demographic and polygraphy data, and MVA rate before and after CPAP were evaluated in the patient group. Clinical sleep laboratory and population based control (n = 635,786). There were 1,478 patients, male sex 70.4%, mean age 53.6 (12.8) y. CPAP. The number of accidents (n = 74) among patients was compared with the expected number (n = 30) from a control population (STRADA). An increased MVA risk ratio of 2.45 was found among patients compared with controls (P accident risk was most prominent in the elderly patients (65-80 y, seven versus two MVAs). In patients, driving distance (km/y), EDS (Epworth Sleepiness score ≥ 16), short habitual sleep time (≤5 h/night), and use of hypnotics were associated with increased MVA risk (odds ratios 1.2, 2.1, 2.7 and 2.1, all P ≤ 0.03). CPAP use ≥ 4 h/night was associated with a reduction of MVA incidence (7.6 to 2.5 accidents/1,000 drivers/y). The MVA risk in this large cohort of unselected patients with OSA suggests a need for accurate tools to identify individuals at risk. Sleep apnea severity (e.g., apnea-hypopnea index) failed to identify patients at risk. © 2015 Associated Professional Sleep Societies, LLC.

Reasons and remedies of inland passenger vessels accidents in Bangladesh

Science.gov (United States)

Rashid, Cdr Kaosar; Islam, Muhammad Rabiul

2017-12-01

The waterways are very important means of communication in Bangladesh. Every year over 95 million passengers are carried through this route. But, this important mode of transport is ridden with tragic disasters every year, incurring a heavy toll of human lives. In last twenty years (1994 to 2014), around 5,500 people have died and 1,500 gone missing in 658 launch disasters. The inland routes of Barisal, Bhola, Chandpur and Patuakhali and their connected water ways to Dhaka and Chittagong are found to be more accident prone. Lack of Awareness, boundless operation of unfit vessels, overloading of passengers, recruitment of unskilled crews, poor capacity of relevant bodies and low standard maintenance of Inland Water Transport (IWT) channels, poor weather forecasting, profit centered attitude of vessel owners and corruption are initiating these deadly accidents. Despite of a number of initiatives by the government, concerned departments and foreign consultants, the safety aspect of the inland passenger vessels still remains in dark. Combined effort of Department of Shipping, BIWTA, and the attitude of vessels owners as well as passengers are very essential in this respect.

Females do not have more injury road accidents on Friday the 13th

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Summala Heikki

2004-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background This study reinvestigated the recent finding that females – but not males – die in traffic accidents on Friday the 13th more often than on other Fridays (Näyhä S: Traffic deaths and superstition on Friday the 13th. Am J Psychiatry 2002, 159: 2110–2111. The current study used matched setting and injury accident data base that is more numerous than fatality data. If such an effect would be caused by impaired psychic and psychomotor functioning due to more frequent anxiety among women, it should also appear in injury crashes. Methods We used the national Finnish road accident database for 1989–2002. To control seasonal variation, 21 Fridays the 13th were compared in a matched design to previous and following Fridays, excluding all holidays, on number of accidents, male/female responsibility for accidents, and the number of dead, injured and overall number of active participants (drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists as a consequence of the accident. Results There were no significant differences in any examined aspect of road injury accidents among the three Fridays, either in females or males. Women were not overrepresented in crashes that occurred on Fridays 13th. Conclusion There is no consistent evidence for females having more road traffic crashes on Fridays the 13th, based on deaths or road accident statistics. However, this does not imply a non-existent effect of superstition related anxiety on accident risk as no exposure-to-risk data are available. People who are anxious of "Black Friday" may stay home, or at least avoid driving a car.

Accident management for severe accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bari, R.A.; Pratt, W.T.; Lehner, J.; Leonard, M.; Disalvo, R.; Sheron, B.

1988-01-01

The management of severe accidents in light water reactors is receiving much attention in several countries. The reduction of risk by measures and/or actions that would affect the behavior of a severe accident is discussed. The research program that is being conducted by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission focuses on both in-vessel accident management and containment and release accident management. The key issues and approaches taken in this program are summarized. 6 refs

Features of the traffic accidents happened in the province of Aydın between 2005 and 2011.

Science.gov (United States)

Dirlik, Musa; Bostancıoğlu, Başak Çakır; Elbek, Tülay; Korkmaz, Bedir; Çallak Kallem, Füsun; Gün, Berk

2014-09-01

In this study, it was aimed to analyze the traffic accidents with postmortem examinations and autopsies. From the one thousand eight hundred and fifteen forensic autopsies, reports of 334 traffic accidents were searched. Features such as the scene of the accident, type of the accident, type of the vehicles involved in the accident, the year, season, day and hour of the accident, the positions of the victims in the traffic, concomitant orthopedic injuries, whether autopsy was performed, and cause of death were investigated. Among the one thousand eight hundred and fifteen forensic death cases, observed cause of death was determined to be traffic accidents in 334 (18.4%) cases. Male cases accounted 84.1%, and male to female ratio was 5.3 to 1. From the reports, 32.6% of the accidents happened in summer and most commonly during holidays (33%). The rate of the accidents happened in the city center was 35.3% and 32.9% of these cases died due to pedestrian collision. Moreover, it was determined that the most injured person was the driver. Automobiles took the lead in the causes of the traffic accidents. It is realized that traffic accident-related deaths have a substantial place among forensic deaths and continue to be an important public health problem. It is conspicuous that improving public education on traffic safety, increasing traffic management and control measures are of great significance.

The role of a prone setup in breast radiation therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Huppert, Nelly; Jozsef, Gabor; Dewyngaert, Keith; Formenti, Silvia Chiara

2011-01-01

Most patients undergoing breast conservation therapy receive radiotherapy in the supine position. Historically, prone breast irradiation has been advocated for women with large pendulous breasts in order to decrease acute and late toxicities. With the advent of CT planning, the prone technique has become both feasible and reproducible. It was shown to be advantageous not only for women with larger breasts but in most patients since it consistently reduces, if not eliminates, the inclusion of heart and lung within the field. The prone setup has been accepted as the best localizing position for both MRI and stereotactic biopsy, but its adoption has been delayed in radiotherapy. New technological advances including image-modulated radiation therapy and image-guided radiation therapy have made possible the exploration of accelerated fractionation schemes with a concomitant boost to the tumor bed in the prone position, along with better imaging and verification of reproducibility of patient setup. This review describes some of the available techniques for prone breast radiotherapy and the available experience in their application. The NYU prone breast radiotherapy approach is discussed, including a summary of the results from several prospective trials.