Traffic injury prevention
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Traffic injury prevention · Jan 2014
Comparative StudyComparison and validation of injury risk classifiers for advanced automated crash notification systems.
The odds of death for a seriously injured crash victim are drastically reduced if he or she received care at a trauma center. Advanced automated crash notification (AACN) algorithms are postcrash safety systems that use data measured by the vehicles during the crash to predict the likelihood of occupants being seriously injured. The accuracy of these models are crucial to the success of an AACN. The objective of this study was to compare the predictive performance of competing injury risk models and algorithms: logistic regression, random forest, AdaBoost, naïve Bayes, support vector machine, and classification k-nearest neighbors. ⋯ Logistic regression slightly outperformed the machine learning algorithms based on sensitivity and specificity of the models. Previous studies on AACN risk curves used the same data to train and test the power of the models and as a result had higher sensitivity compared to the cross-validated results from this study. Future studies should account for future data; for example, by using cross-validation or risk presenting optimistic predictions of field performance. Past algorithms have been criticized for relying on age and sex, being difficult to measure by vehicle sensors, and inaccuracies in classifying damage side. The models with accurate damage side and including age/sex did outperform models with less accurate damage side and without age/sex, but the differences were small, suggesting that the success of AACN is not reliant on these predictors.
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Traffic injury prevention · Jan 2014
The six degrees of freedom motion of the human head, spine, and pelvis in a frontal impact.
The goal of this study is to characterize the in situ 6-degree-of-freedom kinematics of the head, 3 vertebrae (T1, T8, and L2), and the pelvis in a 40 km/h frontal impact. ⋯ Despite the predominance of the sagittal motion of the occupant in a pure (12 o'clock) frontal impact, the asymmetry of belt loading induced other relevant displacements and rotations of the head and thoracic spine. Attempts to model occupant kinematics in a frontal impact should consider these results to biofidelically describe the interaction of the torso with the belt.
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Traffic injury prevention · Jan 2014
Investigating motorists' behaviors in response to supplementary traffic control devices at land surveying work sites.
Since land surveyors working alongside live traffic encounter unique safety challenges there is a great need for innovative and effective traffic control devices (TCDs) that alert motorists approaching short-term land surveying work sites. Unlike the volume of research that has been completed on traditional work zones, however, there is a limited amount of information that has been collected on how motorists respond to TCDs at land surveying work sites. This article aims to fill the void by investigating motorists' behaviors in response to the use of 2 supplementary TCDs at land surveying work sites: portable plastic rumble strips (PPRS) and warning lights. ⋯ The use of supplemental TCDs can greatly contribute to the changes in motorists' behaviors at surveying work sites. The changes in motorists' driving behaviors imply that the motorists reacted favorably to the deployed TCDs at the land-surveying work sites.
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Traffic injury prevention · Jan 2014
Evaluation of deterrent impact of Ontario's Street Racing and Stunt Driving Law on extreme speeding convictions.
The purpose of this study was to conduct a process and outcome evaluation of the deterrent impact of Ontario's street racing and stunt driving legislation, introduced in September 2007, on extreme speeding convictions. It was hypothesized that because males are much more likely to engage in speeding, street racing, and stunt driving, the new law would have more impact in reducing extreme speeding in males compared to females. ⋯ These findings are congruent with deterrence theory that certain, swift, and severe sanctions can deter risky driving behavior and support the hypothesis that legal sanctions can have an impact on the extreme speeding convictions of the intervention group.
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Traffic injury prevention · Jan 2014
Characteristics of 1226 alcohol-positive drivers involved in nonfatal traffic crashes in Shanghai, China.
The purpose of our study was to better characterize and evaluate drunk driving for governmental reference in order to further reduce alcohol-impaired driving. ⋯ The results indicated a notable need for more governmental attention that would prevent accidents caused by driving under the influence of alcohol.