Accident; analysis and prevention
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Comparative Study
Severe bicycling injury risk factors in children and adolescents: a case-control study.
Bicycling is the most common cause of sports and recreation injury in children and adolescents; yet, there is limited evidence on the factors associated with severe bicycling injuries in youth. ⋯ Bicycle-MV collisions increase severe injury risk in youth, and adolescents are often injured in these events. This suggests separating bicyclists from MVs or traffic calming strategies could improve safety.
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Understanding pedestrian crash causes and contributing factors in developing countries is critically important as they account for about 55% of all traffic crashes. Not surprisingly, considerable attention in the literature has been paid to road traffic crash prediction models and methodologies in developing countries of late. Despite this interest, there are significant challenges confronting safety managers in developing countries. ⋯ In particular, random parameter negative binomial model was used to investigate pedestrian crashes. The models and their interpretations make important contributions to road crash analysis and prevention in developing countries. They also assist in the identification of the contributing factors to pedestrian crashes, with the intent to identify potential design and operational improvements.
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The purpose of this study was to investigate motorcycle-to-barrier crash frequency on horizontally curved roadway sections in Washington State using police-reported crash data linked with roadway data and augmented with barrier presence information. Data included 4915 horizontal curved roadway sections with 252 of these sections experiencing 329 motorcycle-to-barrier crashes between 2002 and 2011. Negative binomial regression was used to predict motorcycle-to-barrier crash frequency using horizontal curvature and other roadway characteristics. ⋯ With respect to the existing horizontal curve criterion of 820 feet or less, curves meeting this criterion were found to increase motorcycle-to-barrier crash frequency rate by a factor of 10 compared to curves not meeting this criterion. Other statistically significant predictors were curve length, traffic volume and the location of adjacent curves. Assuming curves of identical radius, the model results suggest that longer curves, those with higher traffic volume, and those that have no adjacent curved sections within 300 feet of either curve end would likely be better candidates for a motorcycle-to-barrier crash countermeasure.
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Observational Study
Trends in mortality due to motor vehicle traffic accident injuries between 1987 and 2011 in a Spanish region (Comunitat Valenciana).
To analyse the time evolution of the rates of mortality due to motor vehicle traffic accidents (MVTA) injuries that occurred among the general population of Comunitat Valenciana between 1987 and 2011, as well as to identify trend changes by sex and age group. ⋯ The risk of death due to motor vehicle traffic accidents injuries has decreased significantly, especially in the case of women, for the last 25 years in Comunitat Valenciana, mainly as of 2006. This may be a consequence of the road-safety measures that have been implemented in Spain and in Comunitat Valenciana since 2004. The economic crisis that this country has undergone since 2008 may have also been a contributing factor to this decrease. Despite the decrease, ASR ratios for men and women increased over time and it is still a high-risk cause of death among young men. It is thus important that the measures that helped decrease the risk of death are maintained and improved over time.
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Accidents in twin-engine aircraft carry a higher risk of fatality compared with single engine aircraft and constitute 9% of all general aviation accidents. The different flight profile (higher airspeed, service ceiling, increased fuel load, and aircraft yaw in engine failure) may make comparable studies on single-engine aircraft accident causes less relevant. The objective of this study was to identify the accident causes for non-commercial operations in twin engine aircraft. ⋯ Second, more focus should be placed on instrument approaches and recovery from unusual aircraft attitude where visibility is degraded. Third, pilots should be made aware of appropriate speed selection for inadvertent flights in convective weather. Finally, emphasizing the importance of conducting night operations under instrument flight rules with its altitude restrictions should lead to a diminished proportion of accidents attributed to failure to maintain obstacle/terrain clearance.