Traffic injury prevention
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This study was carried out to assess the magnitude and nature of the drink-drive problem in Nigeria and evaluate the institutional capacities for preventing drinking and driving, using the methodology developed by the International Center for Alcohol Policies (ICAP) described in the overview article in this issue (Johnson 2012). ⋯ This study recommended that priority should be given to strengthening the road crash and injury database and drink-drive enforcement, especially for drivers of commercial vehicles, and that the opportunities provided by the World Bank project supporting safe road corridors should be maximized.
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Head injuries are the most common injuries sustained by children in motor vehicle crashes regardless of age, restraint, and crash direction. For rear seat occupants, the interaction of the subject with the seat back and the vehicle side interior structures has been previously highlighted. In order to advance this knowledge to the development of countermeasures, a summary of vehicle components that contributed to these injuries is needed. Therefore, the objective of this study was to create a contact map of the vehicle interior for head and face injuries to rear-seated restrained children in front crashes. ⋯ Contact points associated with head/face injury for restrained children 0 to 15 years in frontal crashes have been delineated. In a majority of the cases, the head/face injury was the most severe injury and severe injuries to other body regions were uncommon, suggesting that efforts to mitigate head injuries for these occupants would greatly improve their overall safety. The majority of the head/face contact points were to the first row seat back and B-pillar. In these frontal crashes, the importance of head/face contact with the vehicle side structure suggests that deploying a curtain air bag in frontal impacts may help manage the energy of impact. These data advance the current understanding of injury patterns and causation in frontal crashes involving restrained rear-row occupants and can be used to develop solutions to mitigate the injuries sustained.
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Traffic injury prevention · Jan 2012
Road traffic injuries in Kenya: the health burden and risk factors in two districts.
Road traffic injuries (RTIs) contribute to a significant proportion of the burden of disease in Kenya. They also have a significant impact on the social and economic well-being of individuals, their families, and society. However, though estimates quantifying the burden of RTIs in Kenya do exist, most of these studies date back to the early 2000s-more than one decade ago. ⋯ This study highlights the significant burden of RTIs in Kenya. A renewed focus on addressing this burden is necessary. Focusing on increasing helmet and reflective clothing use and enforcement of speed limits has the potential to prevent a large number of road traffic crashes, injuries, and fatalities. However, it is difficult to demonstrate the magnitude of the injury problem to policymakers with minimal or inaccurate data, and this study illustrates the need for national continuous, systematic, and sustainable data collection efforts, echoing similar calls for action throughout the injury literature.
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Traffic injury prevention · Jan 2012
Development and validation of a crash culpability scoring tool.
Several traffic safety research techniques require researchers to separate crash-involved drivers into culpable and nonculpable. Nonculpable drivers are assumed to be randomly involved in crashes by external factors and to approximate a noncollision control population. If this is true, factors that increase crash risk should be found more often in culpable than in nonculpable drivers. Though a culpability scoring tool has been developed for research purposes, that tool does not adequately address winter driving conditions (Robertson and Drummer 1994). Moreover, traditional culpability scoring requires assessors to read and score individual collision reports. The purpose of this study is to develop and validate an automated, rule-based Canadian culpability scoring tool that is capable of rapidly scoring police crash reports from large administrative datasets. ⋯ We have developed an automated culpability scoring tool contextualized to Canadian driving conditions. This tool will allow road safety researchers to assess collision responsibility in large administrative data sets derived from police reports.
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China has been concerned about the serious problem of drinking and driving road crashes, and it has made good progress by establishing strict laws, imposing serious penalties, and initiating a rigorous enforcement program since 2008. This study has assessed the magnitude and nature of the problem and reviewed the legislation, current practices, and institutional capacities for preventing drinking and driving. ⋯ China has made progress in strengthening its approach to preventing drinking and driving, particularly in the area of law enforcement. However, it is not possible to evaluate the potential benefits because of data issues. Recommendations for the future include the need to improve the national road crash and injury database, strengthen the coordination of key agencies, and provide more effective and sustained public information campaigns that target vulnerable drivers and are integrated with enforcement strategies. Evaluation and research are important to improve future prevention programs.