Traffic injury prevention
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Traffic injury prevention · Jan 2020
Development of an expert derived ICD-AIS map for serious AIS3+ injury identification.
Objective: The objective of the mapping project was to develop an expert derived map between the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD) clinical modifications (CM) and the Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) to be able to relate AIS severity to ICD coded data road traffic collision data in EU datasets. The maps were developed to enable the identification of serious AIS3+ injury and provide details of the mapping process for assumptions to be made about injury severity from mass datasets. This article describes in detail the mapping process of the International Classification of Diseases Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) and the International Classification of Diseases Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM) codes to the Abbreviated Injury Scale 2005, Update 2008 (AIS08) codes to identify injury with an AIS severity of 3 or more (AIS3+ severity) to determine 'serious' (MAIS3+) road traffic injuries. ⋯ Conclusions: The Association for the Advancement in Automotive Medicine, AAAM-endorsed expert-derived map offers a unique tool to road safety researchers to establish the number of MAIS3+ serious injuries occurring on the roads. The detailed process offered in this paper will enable researchers to understand the decision making and identify limitations when using the AIS08/ICD map on country-specific data. The results could inform protocols for dealing with problem codes to enable country comparisons of MAIS3+ serious injury rates.
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Traffic injury prevention · Jan 2020
Mapping fractures from traffic accidents in Sweden: How do cyclists compare to other road users?
Introduction: Cyclists account for a large share of injured road users in traffic. The crash data analysis for cyclist safety and protection should be based on a representative dataset of real-world crashes. This manuscript aimed to explore the patterns of cyclists' fractures and factors associated with fractures of higher severity. ⋯ Fractures of cyclists to the acetabulum (100%), pelvis (84.2%), vertebra (75%) and tibia (70.3%) were most frequently high energy fractures. Single bicycle incidents (OR = 0.165) and collisions with another bicycle (OR = 0.148) were significantly less likely to result in a high energy fracture than a collision with a car. Conclusions: The results of this study may guide the design of appropriate protective devices for the cyclists based on the different injury mechanisms and provide implications for prioritizing new countermeasures, campaigns, or regulations.
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Traffic injury prevention · Jan 2020
Investigation of traffic and safety behavior of pedestrians while texting or web-surfing.
Objective: More and more pedestrians use mobile phones in their daily traffic activities by the roadside or even when crossing the street. The objective of this research is to examine pedestrians' traffic and safety behavior while texting or web-surfing, when crossing signalized intersections. Methods: In order to compare the behavior of distracted and non-distracted pedestrians, an experimental process through video recording was carried out in real road conditions, in three signalized intersections in the center of Athens in Greece. ⋯ Conclusions: Mobile phones are integral to contemporary daily life and their use and penetration is increasing rapidly as well. For this reason, it is crucial to investigate the impacts of distracted walking on pedestrians' traffic and safety behavior. Various measures and strategies should be implemented and further research should be conducted as texting and web-surfing distraction is associated with a rather high risk.
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Traffic injury prevention · Jan 2020
Observational StudyThe characteristics of dockless electric rental scooter-related injuries in a large U.S. city.
To describe the characteristics of dockless electric rental scooter ("e-scooter")-related injuries presenting to two emergency departments in one large U.S. city. ⋯ E-scooters are an emerging transportation technology associated with a wide range of potentially serious injuries that consume substantial emergency department and hospital resources. Head injuries are a particular concern, as few e-scooter riders are wearing helmets at the time of injury.
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Traffic injury prevention · Jan 2019
Marijuana use and driving in Washington State: Risk perceptions and behaviors before and after implementation of retail sales.
Washington is among the first states to legalize recreational use of marijuana. This study examined marijuana use and risk perceptions before and after retail sales of recreational marijuana began in July 2014, the relationship between risk perceptions and marijuana use, and the relationship between self-reported marijuana use and drug test results. ⋯ The prevalence of daytime THC-positive drivers increased substantially a few months after retail sales of marijuana were legal. Daytime and nighttime prevalence of THC-positive drivers was similar after retail sales. This pattern differs from that typically found for alcohol use, which is consistently higher among drivers at nighttime, compared to daytime. Reports of marijuana use were not always consistent with drug test results, which suggests that comparisons of self-reported marijuana use before and after legalization could be biased. This study examined marijuana use and risk perceptions over the course of 1 year. However, law changes may influence cultural norms gradually over a longer period of time. Future studies should continue to monitor marijuana use over time, as well as identify ways to determine whether drivers are impaired by marijuana.