Accident; analysis and prevention
-
To compare the differences in Canadian national estimates of correct child restraint use obtained using the standard roadside observation method compared to a detailed parking lot interview. ⋯ There are specific advantages and limitations to both survey designs. The purpose of the data collection must be considered when selecting the methodology. Parking lot surveys provide richer data regarding restraint use/misuse. Estimates of correct restraint use must be approached with caution due to the effect of consent bias resulting in over inflation of estimates. Roadside observation is adequate and appropriate for providing national estimates of correct restraint use.
-
Pedestrian-injury severity has been traditionally modeled with approaches that have assumed that the effect of each variable is fixed across injury observations. This assumption ignores possible unobserved heterogeneity which is likely to be particularly important in pedestrian injuries because unobserved physical health, strength, and behavior may significantly affect the pedestrians' ability to absorb collision forces. ⋯ It was also found that the effect of pedestrian age was normally distributed across observations, and that as pedestrians became older the probability of fatal injury increased substantially. Heterogeneity in the mean of the random parameters for the freeway and pedestrian-solely-at-fault collision indicators was related to pedestrian gender, and heterogeneity in the mean of the random parameters for the traffic-sign and motorist-back-up indicators was related to pedestrian age.
-
The severity of 1491 crashes on 148 roundabouts in Flanders-Belgium was examined in order to investigate which factors might explain the severity of crashes or injuries and to relate these factors to the existing knowledge about contributing factors for injury severity in traffic. Logistic regression and hierarchical binomial logistic regression techniques were used. A clear externality of risk appeared to be present in the sense that vulnerable road user groups (pedestrians, bicyclists, moped riders and motorcyclists) are more severely affected than others. ⋯ Single-vehicle crashes seem to have more severe outcomes than multiple-vehicle crashes. However, systematic differences in the reporting rate of crashes are likely to exist and may have affected the stated results. Correlations with important, but unobserved variables like the impact speeds in the crashes might exist as well and could provide an alternative explanation for some results.
-
Safety management practices not only improve working conditions but also positively influence employees' attitudes and behaviours with regard to safety, thereby reducing accidents in workplace. This study measured employees' perceptions on six safety management practices and self-reported safety knowledge, safety motivation, safety compliance and safety participation by conducting a survey using questionnaire among 1566 employees belonging to eight major accident hazard process industrial units in Kerala, a state in southern part of India. The reliability and unidimesionality of all the scales were found acceptable. ⋯ Safety knowledge and safety motivation were found to be the key mediators in explaining these relationships. Safety training was identified as the most important safety management practice that predicts safety knowledge, safety motivation, safety compliance and safety participation. These findings provide valuable guidance for researchers and practitioners for identifying the mechanisms by which they can improve safety of workplace.
-
Crash records and roadside data from Spanish two-lane rural roads were analyzed to study the effect of roadside configuration on safety. Four indicators were used to characterize the main roadside features that have an influence on the consequences of roadway departures: roadside slope, non-traversable obstacles distance from the roadway edge, safety barrier installation, and alignment. Based on the analysis of the effect of roadside configuration on the frequency and severity of run-off-road injury crashes, a categorical roadside hazardousness scale was defined. ⋯ As a result a 5-level Roadside Hazardousness Index (RHI) was defined. RHI can be used as reference to normalize the collection of roadside safety related information. The index can also be used as variable for inclusion of roadside condition information in multivariate crash prediction models.