Traffic injury prevention
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Traffic injury prevention · Jan 2019
What can a hazard function teach us about drivers' perception of hazards?
Hazard perception (HP) is typically defined as the ability to read the road and anticipate hazardous situations. Several studies have shown that HP is a driving skill that correlates with traffic crashes. Measuring HP differences between various groups of drivers typically involves a paradigm in which participants observe short videos of real-world traffic scenes taken from a driver's or a pedestrian's perspective and press a response button each time they identify a hazard. Young, inexperienced drivers are considered to have poor HP skills compared to experienced drivers, as evident by their slower response times (RTs) to road hazards. Nevertheless, though several studies report RT differences between young, inexperienced and experienced drivers, other studies did not find such differences. We have already suggested that these contradictory findings may be attributed to how cases of no response-that is, a situation where a participant did not respond to a hazard-are being treated. Specifically, we showed that though survival analysis handles cases of no response appropriately, common practices fail to do so. These methods often replace a case of no response with the mean RT of those who responded or any other central tendency parameters. The present work aims to show that treating cases of no response appropriately as well as selecting a distribution that fits the RT data is more than just a technical phase in the analysis. ⋯ The suggested process has the ability to provide researchers with additional information regarding the nature of the traffic scenes that enables differentiating between various hazardous situations and between various users with different characteristics such as age or experience.
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Traffic injury prevention · Jan 2019
A novel driver hazard perception sensitivity model based on drivers' characteristics: A simulator study.
Objective: Considering the high annual number of fatal driving accidents in Iran, any approach for reducing the number or severity of driving accidents is a positive step toward decreasing accident-related losses. Accidents can often be avoided by a timely reaction of the driver. One of the steps before reacting to a hazard is perception. ⋯ Moreover, hazard perception sensitivity was improved by better inhibitory control, selective attention, and decision making, more carefulness, the average amount of daily sleep, and marital status. Conclusion: The results of this research may be useful in educating and advertising programs. It also could enhance sensitivity to perception of hazards such as pedestrians, animals, and fixed obstacles among young and novice drivers.
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Traffic injury prevention · Jan 2019
Working conditions and sleepiness while driving among truck drivers.
Objective: The objective of this study is to identify the role of working conditions as predictors of sleepiness while driving among truck drivers. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study carried out among truck drivers who transported grains to Paranaguá Port, Paraná, Brazil. The truck drivers were interviewed and completed a self-administered questionnaire to collect data on sociodemographic and behavioral variables, working conditions, consumption of illicit psychoactive substances, and sleep patterns. ⋯ After model adjustments, the following working conditions were associated with sleepiness while driving: Distance from the last shipment of more than 1,000 km (odds ratio [OR] = 1.54; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.07-2.23) and a formal labor contract with a productivity-based salary (OR = 2.65; 95% CI, 1.86-3.78). Consumption of illicit psychoactive substances (OR = 1.99; 95% CI, 1.14-3.47) was also associated with sleepiness while driving. Conclusions: Distance traveled and a formal labor contract with productivity-based earnings were the working conditions associated with sleepiness while driving, regardless of other working or behavioral characteristics, age, consumption of illicit psychoactive substances, and sleep duration.
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Traffic injury prevention · Jan 2019
Factors associated with motorcycle traffic crash fatalities among active duty U.S. Army personnel.
Research on factors associated with motorcycle fatalities among active duty U.S. Army personnel is limited. This analysis describes motorcycle crash-related injuries from 1995 through 2014 and assesses the effect of alcohol use and helmet use on the risk of fatal injury among active duty U.S. Army motorcycle operators involved in a traffic crash, controlling for other factors shown to be potentially associated with fatality in this population. ⋯ Among U.S. Army motorcycle operators, alcohol use and not wearing a helmet increased the odds of fatality, given that a crash occurred, and additional modifiable risk factors were identified. Results will help inform U.S. Army motorcycle policies and training.
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Traffic injury prevention · Jan 2019
Relations between adolescent sensation seeking and traffic injury: Multiple-mediating effects of road safety attitudes, intentions and behaviors.
Objective: Road traffic injuries to youth are a serious global public health concern. One contributor to adolescent injury risk is the tendency to engage in sensation seeking behaviors. The current study examined how sensation seeking personality might directly influence adolescent traffic injury, as well as how it might indirectly influence traffic injury as mediated by road safety attitudes, intentions, and behaviors. ⋯ Conclusions: There were direct effects of Disinhibition sensation seeking, road safety attitudes, and road user behaviors on adolescent traffic injury. Sensation seeking also indirectly affected adolescent traffic injury through multiple mediating roles of road safety attitudes, intentions, and behaviors. Implications for traffic injury prevention and training are discussed.