Journal of safety research
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In January 2015, the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) announced that the official target of the federal government transportation safety policy was zero deaths. Having a better understanding of traffic fatality trends of various age cohorts-and to what extent the US is lagging other countries-is a crucial first step to identifying policies that may help the USDOT achieve its goal. ⋯ This startling statistic suggests an immediate need to explore further the causes and potential solutions to these disparities. This is especially important if countries, including the US, are to achieve the ambitious goals set out in Zero Vision initiatives.
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Child restraints (CRs) are vital for optimizing child passenger safety and reducing the risk of pediatric injury and fatality in motor vehicle crashes. However, most CRs are installed improperly. ⋯ The majority of CRs are installed improperly. We identified specific instances of CR misuse that are common in a large, urban community and present recommendations to improve child passenger safety practices and education.
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Research has reported that smiles facilitate social relationships. However, the effect of a smile on driving behavior has received less interest. ⋯ This leads to motorists stopping more readily and driving more carefully. These results also suggest that pedestrians may increase their own safety by using appropriate nonverbal signals toward drivers.
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With the aging of the United States population, unintentional injuries among older adults, and especially falls-related injuries, are an increasing public health concern. ⋯ With the aging of the U.S. population, unintentional injuries, and especially fall-related injuries, will present a growing challenge to our health care system as well as an increasing economic burden. To counteract this trend, we must implement effective public health strategies, such as increasing knowledge about fall risk factors and broadly disseminating evidence-based injury and fall prevention programs in both clinical and community settings.
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Visual-manual (VM) phone tasks (i.e., texting, dialing, reading) are associated with an increased crash/near-crash risk. This study investigated how the driving context influences drivers' decisions to engage in VM phone tasks in naturalistic driving. ⋯ Advanced driver assistance systems should facilitate and possibly boost drivers' self-regulating behavior. For instance, they might recognize when appropriate adaptive behavior is missing and advise or alert accordingly. The results from this study could also inspire training programs for novice drivers, or locally classify roads in terms of the risk associated with secondary task engagement while driving.