Accident; analysis and prevention
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Text messaging while driving can be distracting and significantly increases the risk of being involved in a collision. Compared to freeway driving, driving in a tunnel environment introduces factors that may interact with driver attentional resources to exacerbate the effects of distraction on driving safety. With planning and design of the 18km Stockholm Bypass tunnel ongoing, and because of the potentially devastating consequences of crashes in long tunnels, it is critical to assess the effects of driver distraction in a tunnel environment. ⋯ Collectively, results imply that driver distraction in tunnels is associated with generally similar driving decrements as freeway driving; however, the potential consequences of these decrements in tunnels remain significantly more serious. Future research should attempt to elucidate the nature of any differential compensatory behavior in tunnel, compared to freeway, driving. In the meantime, drivers should be advised to refrain from text messaging, especially when driving in tunnels.
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The benefit of wearing a rear seatbelt in reducing the risk of motor vehicle crash-related fatalities and injuries has been well documented in previous studies. Wearing a seatbelt not only reduces the risk of injury to rear-seat passengers, but also reduces the risk of injury to front-seat occupant who could be crushed by unbelted rear-seat passengers in a motor vehicle crash. Despite the benefits of wearing a rear seatbelt, its rate of use in Malaysia is generally low. ⋯ There was also a significant positive correlation between driver seatbelt and rear seatbelt-wearing behaviour. This implies that, in regards to seatbelt-wearing behaviour, drivers are more likely to adopt the same seatbelt-wearing behaviour when travelling as rear-seat passengers as they do when driving. These findings are crucial to the development of new interventions to increase the compliance rate of wearing a rear seatbelt.
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Pulmonary contusion (PC) is a leading injury in blunt chest trauma and is most commonly caused by motor vehicle crashes (MVC). To improve understanding of the relationship between insult and outcome, this study relates PC severity to crash, occupant, and injury parameters in MVCs. ⋯ This study quantified PC morphology in 29 MVC occupants and examined the relationship between injury severity and crash and occupant parameters to better characterize the mechanism of injury. The results of this study may contribute to the prevention, mitigation, and treatment of PC.
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Today's increase in the number of cyclists has triggered a change in the interactions to be handled by road users. However, few studies have investigated crash risk perceived by cyclists interacting with other users, and few have compared cyclists' and drivers' perceptions of crash risk in bike-car interactions, the most dangerous situation for cyclists. Our aims here are to study perceived crash risk (no matter the seriousness of the crash) in six common road situations during which cyclist crashes are frequent and also to study cyclists' and drivers' perceived risk in bike-car interactions, in comparison to other interaction types (cyclist vs. cyclist and driver vs. driver). ⋯ Experience was measured in terms of years of vehicle driving and driven km; perceived control was measured in terms of perceived skill and responsibility for the risky behavior. The results validated our hypotheses: perceived risk was higher for car drivers than for cyclists and for interacting with a car than with a bike. The implications of these results for interventions to improve road safety for both cyclists and car drivers are discussed.
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Given evidence of effects of mobile phone use on driving, and also legislation, many careful drivers refrain from answering their phones when driving. However, the distracting influence of a call on driving, even in the context of not answering, has not been examined. Furthermore, given that not answering may be contrary to an individual's normal habits, this study examined whether distraction caused by the ignored call varies according to normal intention to answer whilst driving. ⋯ Lower intention to ignore calls whilst driving correlated with a larger effect of distraction, as was feeling unable to control whether one answered whilst driving (Perceived Behavioural Control). The study suggests that even an ignored call can cause significantly increased infractions in simulator driving, with pedestrian collisions and speed exceedances being striking examples. Results are discussed in relation to cognitive demands of inhibiting normal behaviour and to drivers being advised to switch phones off whilst driving.