Traffic injury prevention
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Traffic injury prevention · Jan 2015
Mortality Risk in Pediatric Motor Vehicle Crash Occupants: Accounting for Developmental Stage and Challenging Abbreviated Injury Scale Metrics.
Survival risk ratios (SRRs) and their probabilistic counterpart, mortality risk ratios (MRRs), have been shown to be at odds with Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) severity scores for particular injuries in adults. SRRs have been validated for pediatrics but have not been studied within the context of pediatric age stratifications. We hypothesized that children with similar motor vehicle crash (MVC) injuries may have different mortality risks (MR) based upon developmental stage and that these MRs may not correlate with AIS severity. ⋯ Trauma severity metrics are important for outcome prediction models and can be used in pediatric triage algorithms and other injury research. Trauma severity may vary for similar injuries based upon developmental stage, and this difference should be reflected in severity metrics. The MR-based data-driven determination of injury severity in pediatric occupants of different age cohorts provides a supplement or an alternative to AIS severity classification for pediatric occupants in MVCs.
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Traffic injury prevention · Jan 2015
Effect of audio in-vehicle red light-running warning message on driving behavior based on a driving simulator experiment.
Drivers' incorrect decisions of crossing signalized intersections at the onset of the yellow change may lead to red light running (RLR), and RLR crashes result in substantial numbers of severe injuries and property damage. In recent years, some Intelligent Transport System (ITS) concepts have focused on reducing RLR by alerting drivers that they are about to violate the signal. The objective of this study is to conduct an experimental investigation on the effectiveness of the red light violation warning system using a voice message. ⋯ This driving simulator study showed a promising effect of the audio in-vehicle warning message on reducing RLR violations and crashes. It is worthwhile to further develop the proposed technology in field applications.
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Traffic injury prevention · Jan 2015
Driver Behavior During Overtaking Maneuvers from the 100-Car Naturalistic Driving Study.
Lane changes with the intention to overtake the vehicle in front are especially challenging scenarios for forward collision warning (FCW) designs. These overtaking maneuvers can occur at high relative vehicle speeds and often involve no brake and/or turn signal application. Therefore, overtaking presents the potential of erroneously triggering the FCW. A better understanding of driver behavior during lane change events can improve designs of this human-machine interface and increase driver acceptance of FCW. The objective of this study was to aid FCW design by characterizing driver behavior during lane change events using naturalistic driving study data. ⋯ This study developed and validated an algorithm to detect lane change events in the 100-Car Naturalistic Driving Study and characterized lane change events in the database. The characterization of driver behavior in lane change events showed that driver lane change frequency and minimum TTC vary with travel speed. The characterization of overtaking maneuvers from this study will aid in improving the overall effectiveness of FCW systems by providing active safety system designers with further understanding of driver action in overtaking maneuvers, thereby increasing system warning accuracy, reducing erroneous warnings, and improving driver acceptance.
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Traffic injury prevention · Jan 2015
Post and during event effect of cell phone talking and texting on driving performance--a driving simulator study.
A number of studies have been done in the field of driver distraction, specifically on the use of cell phone for either conversation or texting while driving. Researchers have focused on the driving performance of drivers when they were actually engaged in the task; that is, during the texting or phone conversation event. However, it is still unknown whether the impact of cell phone usages ceases immediately after the end of task. The primary objective of this article is to analyze the post-event effect of cell phone usage (texting and conversation) in order to verify whether the distracting effect lingers after the actual event has ceased. ⋯ The result indicates that the distraction and subsequent elevated crash risk of texting while driving linger even after the texting event has ceased. This finding has safety and policy implications in reducing distracted driving.
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Traffic injury prevention · Jan 2015
The contribution of the Israeli trauma system to the survival of road traffic casualties.
According to the World Health Organization, over one million people die annually from traffic crashes, in which over half are pedestrians, bicycle riders and two-wheel motor vehicles. In Israel, during the last decade, mortality from traffic crashes has decreased from 636 in 1998 to 288 in 2011. Professionals attribute the decrease in mortality to enforcement, improved infrastructure and roads and behavioral changes among road users, while no credit is given to the trauma system. Trauma systems which care for severe and critical casualties improve the injury outcomes and reduce mortality among road casualties. ⋯ This study clearly shows that without any improvement in the health system, specifically the trauma system, the number of traffic deaths would be considerably greater. Although the health system has a significant contribution on reducing mortality, it does not receive the appropriate acknowledgment or resources for its proportion in the fight against traffic accidents.