Traffic injury prevention
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Traffic injury prevention · Apr 2018
Observational StudyPedestrian crossing behavior, an observational study in the city of Ushuaia, Argentina.
Pedestrian crashes are a critical problem in Latin American countries. However, little research has been published about pedestrians and even less about their behaviors in a naturalistic context. The objective of the present research was to explore risky pedestrian crossing behaviors in traffic intersections in an argentine city (Ushuaia). It is focused in different stages of the crossing process, traffic code violations, and other potentially risky behaviors such as distractions. A high frequency of risky behaviors among pedestrians was expected. Moreover, according to previous findings, it was hypothesized that men and younger pedestrians would show riskier behaviors. ⋯ The high level of risk behaviors during the different stages of street crossing is worrisome and reinforces the idea that pedestrians are responsible for many of the conflicts with motorists. Many of the risky behaviors seem to be associated with gender, which is in line with the previous literature showing more risk behaviors among men than among women. No differences were found for age group. Findings are interpreted considering some features of the Argentine road culture.
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Traffic injury prevention · Feb 2018
Improvement of injury severity prediction (ISP) of AACN during on-site triage using vehicle deformation pattern for car-to-car (C2C) side impacts.
The Advanced Automatic Crash Notification (AACN) system needs to predict injury accurately, to provide appropriate treatment for seriously injured occupants involved in motor vehicle crashes. This study investigates the possibility of improving the accuracy of the AACN system, using vehicle deformation parameters in car-to-car (C2C) side impacts. ⋯ The proposed method can improve the accuracy of injury prediction in side-impact collisions. Similar opportunities exist for other crash modes also.
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Traffic injury prevention · Feb 2018
Observational StudyTrends in child passenger safety practices in Indiana from 2009 to 2015.
This study reviews trends in rear-facing direction, top tether use, booster seat use, and seating position for children 12 years or younger among motor vehicle passengers in Indiana. ⋯ Overall, these trends demonstrate an improvement in child passenger safety practices among Indiana drivers. However, this study illuminates areas to improve child passenger safety, such as rear facing for toddlers 18 to 23 months, increasing top tether use, booster seat use, and an emphasis on rear seat position for children 8 to 12 years. This information can be used by primary care providers and child passenger safety technicians and other child passenger safety advocates to develop counseling points and targeted educational campaigns.
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Traffic injury prevention · Feb 2018
Burden of road traffic injuries related to delays in implementing safety belt laws in low- and lower-middle-income countries.
Delayed implementation of effective road safety policies must be considered when quantifying the avoidable part of the fatal and nonfatal injuries burden. We sought to assess the avoidable part of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) lost due to road traffic injuries related to delays in implementing road safety laws in low- and lower-middle-income countries. ⋯ Despite limited data availability in low- and middle-income countries, the avoidable part of the burden related to delayed intervention is measurable. These results can be used to convince countries to avoid delaying the provision of better protection to road users.
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Traffic injury prevention · Feb 2018
The effectiveness of child restraint and seat belt legislation in reducing child injuries: The case of Serbia.
The objective of this study is to determine the short- and long-term impacts of Serbia's 2009 update of child restraint and seat belt legislation on the incidence of pediatric motor vehicle-related injury. With this new law, the use of child restraints in children age 0-3 became mandatory, and children 4-12 had to wear seat belts in the rear seats. ⋯ The case of Serbia suggests that the new law was effective in reducing injuries among children aged 0-3 in the short term and injuries among children aged 4-12 in both the short term and long term. To understand these results, we suggest 2 hypotheses. First, low proper usage of child restraint and weak police enforcement were likely to explain the short-term effect among children aged 0-3. Second, access to seat belts in rear seats was probably a condition that facilitated the use of these devices among children aged 4-12, protecting them during the period of the study.