Hazard perception of stroke drivers in a video-based Japanese hazard perception task

Objective: Hazard perception (HP) is the ability to identify a hazardous situation while driving. Though HP has been well studied among neurologically intact populations, little is known about the HP of neurologically impaired populations (in this study, stroke patients). The purpose of this study is, first, to investigate the HP of stroke patients and, second, to verify the effect of lesion side (right or left hemisphere) on HP, from the viewpoint of hazard types.

Methods: Sixty-seven neurologically intact age-matched older drivers and 63 stroke patients with valid driver’s licenses conducted a video-based Japanese HP task. Participants were asked to indicate the hazardous events in the driving scenario. These events were classified into 3 types: (1) behavioral prediction hazards (BP), which are those where the cause is visible before it becomes a hazard; (2) environmental prediction hazards (EP), which are those where the ultimate hazard may be hidden from view; and (3) dividing and focusing attention hazards (DF), which are those where there is more than one potential hazard to monitor on approach．Participants also took part in the Trail Making Test (TMT) to evaluate visual information processing speed.

Results: The results showed that the number of responses was significantly fewer for stroke patients than for age-matched drivers for all hazard types (P < .001), and this difference was not affected by lesion side (P > .05). It was also found that stroke patients showed a slower response time than age-matched drivers only for BP (P < .001). The lesion side did not affect response latency (P > .05). Results of the TMT revealed that age-matched drivers completed the task significantly faster than stroke patients (P < .001) and that neither TMT-A nor TMT-B differentiated between patients with left hemisphere damage and patients with right hemisphere damage (P > .05).

Conclusions: Firstly, HP in stroke patients is low compared to age-matched drivers. Secondly, even if stroke patients notice hazards, their response may be delayed in a BP situation, due to a slower visual information processing speed. Thirdly, the lesion side does not appear to affect HP.     

江苏生态环境无人机监测体系研究及初步应用

近年来,无人机技术趋于成熟并逐步得到广泛应用,成为一种新的环境监测平台。与传统监测方法相比,无人机监测平台具有快速、灵活、清晰、直观等突出优势。基于以往工作基础,研究并提出一种适用于江苏省的生态环境无人机监测体系,同时进一步讨论无人机在水、气、生态环境监测领域的业务应用思路。     

What vehicle features are considered important when buying an automobile? An examination of driver preferences by age and gender

Introduction

Certain vehicle features can help drivers avoid collisions and/or protect occupants in the event of a crash, and therefore, might play an important role when deciding which vehicle to purchase. The objective of this study was to examine the importance attributed to key vehicle features (including safety) that drivers consider when buying a car and its association with age and gender.

Methods

A sample of 2,002 Canadian drivers aged 18 years and older completed a survey that asked them to rank the importance of eight vehicle features if they were to purchase a vehicle (storage, mileage, safety, price, comfort, performance, design, and reliability). ANOVA tests were performed to: (a) determine if there were differences in the level of importance between features and; (b) examine the effect of age and gender on the importance attributed to these features.

Results

Of the features examined, safety and reliability were the most highly rated in terms of importance, whereas design and performance had the lowest rating. Differences in safety and performance across age groups were dependent on gender. This effect was most evident in the youngest and oldest age groups.

Conclusions

Safety and reliability were considered the most important features. Age and gender play a significant role in explaining the importance of certain features.

Impact on Industry

Targeted efforts for translating safety-related information to the youngest and oldest consumers should be emphasized due to their high collision, injury, and fatality rates.     

Enhancing older driver safety: A driving survey and evaluation of the CarFit program

Objective

To evaluate CarFit, an educational program designed to promote optimal alignment of driver with vehicle.

Methods

A driving activity survey was sent to 727 randomly selected participants living in retirement communities. Drivers (n = 195) were assigned randomly to CarFit intervention (n = 83, M age = 78.1) or Comparison (n = 112, M age = 79.6) groups. After 6 months, participants completed a post-test of driving activity and CarFit recommendations.

Results

Nonconsenting drivers were older and participated in fewer driving activities. CarFit participation was moderate (71%) with 86% of the participants receiving recommendations. 60% followed the recommendations at the 6-month re-evaluation). The CarFit (67.6%) and Comparison (59.3%) groups reported at least one type of self-regulation of driving activity at baseline. There was no significant change in the driving behaviors at the six-month follow-up.

Conclusion

CarFit was able to detect addressable opportunities that may contribute to the safety of older drivers.

Impact on industry

CarFit recommendations may need stronger reinforcement in order to be enacted by a participant.     

Behavioral Factors as Predictors of Motor Vehicle Crashes in Young Drivers

Gains in reducing mortality and morbidity from motor vehicle crashes can be achieved by understanding the behavioral factors that contribute to the elevated risk of motor vehicle-related injury and death. This study investigates the incidence, along with the effect of driver and behavioral factors, on the likelihood of motor vehicle crashes. Seventeen year old newly licensed drivers (n = 1277) in Perth, Western Australia, were recruited and followed over the first 12 months of driving. Using Cox proportional hazard analysis, driver and behavioral factors were assessed to determine whether they predicted the likelihood of a crash in the first 12 months of driving. The crash incidence rate was higher for males (1R = 4.6/10,000 driving days) than females (IR = 3.9/10,000 driving days). Multivariate analysis indicated that drivers who reported to have driven daily prior to obtaining their learners permit (L-plates) were at an increased risk of motor vehicle crash. A twofold increase in motor vehicle crash was apparent among drivers considered to be confident-adventurous drivers compared to low to moderate levels of driver confidence-adventurousness (HR = 2.04, 95% CI = 1.29-3.21). The research indicates that a driver's perception of their confidence and adventurousness in the road environment plays a part in the causal pathway leading to a motor vehicle crash. This research points to the need for preventive strategies that focus not only on knowledge and skill acquisition, but also the driver's perception in preparing young people for our roads.     

Characteristics of vehicles driven by teens and adults killed in crashes, 2013–2017

Introduction: Teen drivers experience higher crash risk than their experienced adult counterparts. Legislative and community outreach methods have attempted to reduce this risk; results have been mixed. The increasing presence of vehicle safety features across the fleet has driven fatality numbers down in the past decades, but the disparity between young drivers and others remains. Method: We merged Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) data on fatal crashes with vehicle characteristic data from the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI). The analysis compared the vehicle type, size, age, and the presence of select safety features in vehicles driven by teens (ages 15–17 years) and adult drivers (ages 35–50 years) who were killed in crashes from 2013 to 2017. Results were compared with a similar analysis conducted on data from 2007 to 2012. Results: Teen drivers were more likely than their adult counterparts to be killed while driving older, smaller vehicles that were less likely to have the option to be equipped with side airbags. Discussion: Teenage drivers remain more likely to be killed while driving older, smaller vehicles than adult drivers. Parents and guardians are mainly responsible for teen vehicle choice, and should keep vehicle size, weight, and safety features in mind when placing their teen in a vehicle. Practical Application: These findings can help guide safer vehicle choice for new teen drivers.     

Assessing public opinion regarding potential ATV-related policies

Problem

States with laws regarding ATV use and safety have lower mortality and injury rates than states with few or no restrictions. Our objective was to assess the attitudes of registered Ohio voters concerning potential legislation regarding ATV use and safety to determine the feasibility of its enactment.

Method

A statewide telephone survey of 838 registered Ohio voters was conducted and results were weighted by region to accurately represent all Ohio voters.

Results

Registered voters were in favor of restricting the use of ATVs by children < 16 years (81%), prohibiting passengers on ATVs (81%), requiring helmets (78%), and requiring all ATV owners and users to take a safety class (77%). ATV riders indicated that a mandatory helmet law would increase helmet use.

Impact on Industry

Assessing public opinion regarding public health and safety laws is a critical first step when considering legislation to improve ATV safety.     

How safe must a potential crewed launcher be demonstrated to be before it is crewed?

The US is entering into a new era in space. The Vision for Space Exploration (VSE) (Bush, 2004) announced by the US President has been fleshed out during the Exploration Systems Architecture Study (ESAS) (ESAS Team Final Report, 2005) and work has been underway since then to develop a generation of launch vehicles to implement the preferred 1.5 launch architecture identified in the study. The 0.5 part of the launch set indicates the smaller Crew Launch Vehicle in the new set designated Ares I by NASA. The Ares I was selected by the team because analysis had shown that its complement of a solid first stage, with a liquid H₂/O₂ cryogenic second stage offered the best potential balance among cost, risk and performance. In particular the risk that this conceptual design would impose on the crew once matured was forecasted to be an order of magnitude better than the current matured crewed launcher set, the Soyuz and the Space Shuttle (Isakowitz, 2004). This forecast relied heavily on the experience of the heritage systems upon which the concept was based, specifically the heritage of the Shuttle solid rocket boosters and the experience with cryogenic upper stage engines from the Apollo and Shuttle era. Even with this strong heritage in play, it was recognized by the ESAS Risk Analysts that it would be necessary to mature the design with a set of test flights prior to placing the crew at risk. However the question was and is: “How many test flights are necessary before a crewed flight should be attempted?”This is the question that this paper addresses. That is, it is clear that the number of test flights is related to the desired safety level and that this, in turn, is related to what safety goal should be assigned to enable the crewed flight. Further, demonstration of goal achievement is again in turn related to how much of the heritage base can be captured in the new design. In the extreme, for a completely “new” design, the demonstration would be bounded by the requirements of the identical, repeatable experiments of classical probability theory (Mises, 1957). Even if the tens, or even hundreds of launches that this would require would be financially possible, tests of developmental systems are seldom, if ever, identical and repeatable because the design is modified to address the failure events observed. On the other hand, if the design was completely identical to the heritage then the heritage demonstrated reliability could be subsumed compared to the goal without further testing. This paper addresses the role of heritage in a developmental environment in the establishment of a minimum goal for the initiation of crewed missions and the testing required for its demonstration.     

车载辐射环境巡测技术应用的探讨

简述了国内外车载辐射巡测技术应用与系统配置情况，我国各级辐射环境监测与监察机构的车载巡测技术能力现状，分析了我国车载巡测系统测试中存在的监测标准规范适用性、监测方法、校准刻度的方法和管理问题，提出环境保护部门应制定车载系统测试相关的规范和要求，建立环保系统车载系统测试和校准刻度实验室的建议。     

南京市机动车尾气检测监管系统的应用

通过研究建立南京市机动车尾气检测监管系统，在线实时监控检测全过程，确保检测行为的规范性和检测数据的真实性，从而强化了尾气定期检测的把关作用，促进在用车排放稳定达标。