High beam headlamp use rates: Effects of rurality,proximity of other traffic,and roadway curvature

Objective: The few observational studies of the prevalence of high beam use indicate the rate of high beam use is about 25% when vehicles are isolated from other vehicles on unlit roads. Recent studies were limited to 2-lane rural roads and used measurement methods that likely overestimated use. The current study examined factors associated with the rate of high beam use of isolated vehicles on a variety of roadways in the Ann Arbor, Michigan area.

Methods: Twenty observation sites were categorized as urban, rural, or on a rural/urban boundary and selected to estimate the effects of street lighting, road curvature, and direction of travel relative to the city on high beam use. Sites were selected in pairs so that a majority of traffic passing one site also passed through the other. Measurement of high beams relied on video data recorded for 2 nights at each site, and the video data also were used to derive a precise measure of the proximity of other traffic. Nearly 3,200 isolated vehicles (10 s or longer from other vehicles) were observed, representing 1,500-plus vehicle pairs.

Results: Across the sample, 18% of the vehicles used high beams. Seventy-three percent of the 1,500-plus vehicle pairs used low beams at each paired site, whereas 9% used high beams at both sites. Vehicles at rural sites and sites at the boundaries of Ann Arbor were more likely to use high beams than vehicles at urban sites, but use in rural areas compared with rural/urban boundary areas did not vary significantly. Rates at all sites were much lower than expected, ranging from 0.9 to 52.9%. High beam use generally increased with greater time between subject vehicles and leading vehicles and vehicles in the opposing lane. There were mixed findings associated with street lighting, road curvature, and direction of travel relative to the city.

Conclusion: Maximizing visibility available to drivers from headlights includes addressing the substantial underuse of high beam headlamps. Advanced technologies such as high beam assist, which switches automatically between high and low beam headlamps depending on the presence of other traffic, can help to address this problem.     

Administrative license suspension: Does length of suspension matter?

Objective: Administrative license revocation (ALR) laws, which provide that the license of a driver with a blood alcohol concentration at or over the illegal limit is subject to an immediate suspension by the state department of motor vehicles, are an example of a traffic law in which the sanction rapidly follows the offense. The power of ALR laws has been attributed to how swiftly the sanction is applied, but does the length of suspension matter? Our objectives were to (a) determine the relationship of the ALR suspension length to the prevalence of drinking drivers relative to sober drivers in fatal crashes and (b) estimate the extent to which the relationship is associated to the general deterrent effect compared to the specific deterrent effect of the law.

Methods: Data comparing the impact of ALR law implementation and ALR law suspension periods were analyzed using structural equation modeling techniques on the ratio of drinking drivers to nondrinking drivers in fatal crashes from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS).

Results: States with an ALR law with a short suspension period (1–30 days) had a significantly lower drinking driver ratio than states with no ALR law. States with a suspension period of 91–180 days had significantly lower ratios than states with shorter suspension periods, while the three states with suspension lengths of 181 days or longer had significantly lower ratios than states with shorter suspension periods.

Discussion: The implementation of any ALR law was associated with a 13.1% decrease in the drinking/nondrinking driver fatal crash ratio but only a 1.8% decrease in the intoxicated/nonintoxicated fatal crash ratio. The ALR laws and suspension lengths had a significant general deterrent effect, but no specific deterrent effect.

Practical Implications: States might want to keep (or adopt) ALR laws for their general deterrent effects and pursue alternatives for specific deterrent effects. States with short ALR suspension periods should consider lengthening them to 91 days or longer.     

Health-related quality of life 24 months after sustaining a minor musculoskeletal injury in a road traffic crash: A prospective cohort study

Objectives: A better understanding of the long-term factors that independently predict poorer quality of life following mild to moderate musculoskeletal injuries is needed. We aimed to establish the predictors of quality of life (including sociodemographic, health, psychosocial, and pre-injury factors) 24 months after a noncatastrophic road traffic injury.

Methods: In a prospective cohort study of 252 participants with mild/moderate injury sustained in a road traffic crash, quality of life was measured 24 months following the baseline survey. A telephone-administered questionnaire obtained information on various potential explanatory variables. Health-related quality of life was measured using the European Quality of Life–5 Dimensions (EQ-5D) and Medical Outcomes Survey Short Form–12 (SF-12). Multivariable linear regression analyses determined the associations between explanatory variables and quality of life measures.

Results: Mean SF-12 physical component summary (PCS) and mental component summary (MCS) scores increased by 7.3 and 2.5 units, respectively, from baseline to 24-month follow-up. Each 10-year increase in baseline age was independently associated with 3.1-unit (P < .001) and 1.5-unit (P = .001) decrease in EQ Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and SF-12 PCS scores at follow-up, respectively. Poor/fair compared to excellent pre-injury health was associated with a 0.16-, 21.3-, and 11.5-unit decrease in EQ-5D summary (P = .03), VAS scores (P = .001), and SF-12 PCS scores (P < .001), respectively. Baseline pain severity ratings and pain catastrophizing scores were inversely associated with 24-month EQ VAS scores (both P < .001). Each unit increase in baseline pain score (P = .001) and pain catastrophizing score (P = .02) was associated with a 1.0- and 4.6-unit decrease in SF-12 MCS scores at 24 months, respectively. Other observed predictors of quality of life measures (EQ-5D summary and/or VAS scores and/ or SF-12 MCS) included marital status, smoking, hospital admission, pre-injury health (anxiety/depression and chronic illness), and whiplash injury.

Conclusion: Sociodemographic indicators, pre-injury health, and biopsychosocial correlates were independently associated with health-related quality of life 24 months following a noncatastrophic road traffic crash injury.     

Representing the Connectivity of Upland Areas to Floodplains and Streams in SWAT+

In recent years, watershed modelers have put increasing emphasis on capturing the interaction of landscape hydrologic processes instead of focusing on streamflow at the watershed outlet alone. Understanding the hydrologic connectivity between landscape elements is important to explain the hydrologic response of a watershed to rainfall events. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool+ (SWAT+) is a new version of SWAT with improved runoff routing capabilities. Subbasins may be divided into landscape units (LSUs), e.g., upland areas and floodplains, and flow can be routed between these LSUs. We ran three scenarios representing different extents of connectivity between uplands, floodplains, and streams. In the first and second scenarios, the ratio of channelized flow from the upland to the stream and sheet flow from the upland to the floodplain was 70/30 and 30/70, respectively, for all upland/floodplain pairs. In the third scenario, the ratio was calculated for each upland/floodplain pair based on the upland/floodplain area ratio. Results indicate differences in streamflow were small, but the relative importance of flow components and upland areas and floodplains as sources of surface runoff changed. Also, the soil moisture in the floodplains was impacted. The third scenario was found to provide more realistic results than the other two. A realistic representation of connectivity in watershed models has important implications for the identification of pollution sources and sinks.     

Globally regional life cycle analysis of automotive lithium-ion nickel manganese cobalt batteries

Electric vehicles based on lithium-ion batteries (LIB) have seen rapid growth over the past decade as they are viewed as a cleaner alternative to conventional fossil-fuel burning vehicles, especially for local pollutant (nitrogen oxides [NO_x], sulfur oxides [SO_x], and particulate matter with diameters less than 2.5 and 10 μm [PM_2.5 and PM₁₀]) and CO₂ emissions. However, LIBs are known to have their own energy and environmental challenges. This study focuses on LIBs made of lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC), since they currently dominate the United States (US) and global automotive markets and will continue to do so into the foreseeable future. The effects of globalized production of NMC, especially LiNi_1/3Mn_1/3Co_1/3O₂ (NMC111), are examined, considering the potential regional variability at several important stages of production. This study explores regional effects of alumina reduction and nickel refining, along with the production of NMC cathode, battery cells, and battery management systems. Of primary concern is how production of these battery materials and components in different parts of the world may impact the battery’s life cycle pollutant emissions and total energy and water consumption. Since energy sources for heat and electricity generation are subject to great regional variation, we anticipated significant variability in the energy and emissions associated with LIB production. We configured Argonne National Laboratory’s Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Transportation (GREET®) model as the basis for this study with key input data from several world regions. In particular, the study examined LIB production in the US, China, Japan, South Korea, and Europe, with details of supply chains and the electrical grid in these regions. Results indicate that 27-kWh automotive NMC111 LIBs produced via a European-dominant supply chain generate 65 kg CO₂e/kWh, while those produced via a Chinese-dominant supply chain generate 100 kg CO₂e/kWh. Further, there are significant regional differences for local pollutants associated with LIB, especially SO_x emissions related to nickel production. We find that no single regional supply chain outperforms all others in every evaluation metric, but the data indicate that supply chains powered by renewable electricity provide the greatest emission reduction potential.

     

Wireless charging and shared autonomous battery electric vehicles (W+SABEV): synergies that accelerate sustainable mobility and greenhouse gas emission reduction

Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change - Emerging technologies play important roles in shaping future mobility systems and impacting sustainability performance of the transportation...     

Diverse migration strategies in hoopoes (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Upupa epops</Emphasis>) lead to weak spatial but strong temporal connectivity

The annual cycle of migrating birds is shaped by their seasonal movements between breeding and non-breeding sites. Studying how migratory populations are linked throughout the annual cycle—migratory connectivity, is crucial to understanding the population dynamics of migrating bird species. This requires the consideration not only of spatial scales as has been the main focus to date but also of temporal scales: only when both aspects are taken into account, the degree of migratory connectivity can be properly defined. We investigated the migration behaviour of hoopoes (Upupa epops) from four breeding populations across Europe and characterised migration routes to and from the breeding grounds, location of non-breeding sites and the timing of key migration events. Migration behaviour was found to vary both within and amongst populations, and even though the spatial migratory connectivity amongst the populations was weak, temporal connectivity was strong with differences in timing amongst populations, but consistent timing within populations. The combination of diverse migration routes within populations and co-occurrence on the non-breeding grounds between populations might promote exchange between breeding populations. As a result, it might make hoopoes and other migrating bird species with similar strategies more resilient to future habitat or climatic changes and stabilise population trends.