Evaluating the impact of criminalizing drunk driving on years of life lost due to road traffic deaths in one megacity,China

Objective: Road safety is an important public health issue worldwide. However, few studies have analyzed the association between criminalizing drunk driving and years of life lost (YLL) due to road traffic deaths (RTDs). Our study can provide useful information about this policy.

Methods: We used interrupted time-series analysis to find the changes in monthly YLL and RTD before and after law enforcement began using RTD data from 2008 to 2014 in Tianjin.

Results: After adjustment for seasonality, months, holidays, and the number of people in each district, criminalizing drunk driving was followed by a 11.1% (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.1–21.1%) reduction in risk of RTDs and a corresponding 778.1-year (95% CI, 200–1,355.1) reduction in monthly YLL. The reduction in YLL was especially significant among males, those aged 16–64 years old, and suburban residents.

Conclusions: This study highlights that the law can lead to a reduction in YLL due to RTDs in Tianjin, China. Large immediate public health benefits resulted from the new road traffic law in China. YLL provides a complementary measure for examining the effect of criminalization on drunk driving RTDs.     

Driving under the influence of alcohol and the effects of alcohol prohibition—Case study in Serbia

Objective: The purpose of this study is to provide an overview of the prevalence of driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) according to day of the week, specific roads (urban/rural), daytime or nighttime, and vehicle category. In addition, this study examines how the prohibition of selling alcoholic drinks in shops and supermarkets (not in restaurants) after 10 p.m. has affected the prevalence of DUI.

Method: Breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) was collected from all drivers through police checkpoints at 54 locations in Serbia. In this study, 17,945 drivers were tested in urban areas and 19,507 in rural areas. The relationship between DUI during the prohibition on alcohol sales in Belgrade and other large cities in Serbia was determined using logistic regression.

Results: On average, every 100th driver in traffic in Serbia was DUI (0.99%). This study shows that the 0 blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limit for motorcyclists does not have an influence on DUI. Moreover, motorcyclists represent the category with the highest share of DUI, with a statistically significantly larger difference compared to drivers of other vehicle categories. These results may be a consequence of the fact that a large number of drivers drive both motorcycles and other vehicle categories (cars or mopeds), so the different BAC limits for nonprofessional drivers may create confusion about the legal BAC limit.

Conclusions: This study suggests that the required legal BAC limit for nonprofessional drivers should be the same. The prohibition of selling alcoholic drinks in Belgrade after 10 p.m. does not decrease the prevalence of DUI.     

朱集矿13-1煤瓦斯参数规律研究

为了采取合理的瓦斯抽采技术,实现矿井安全高效开采,对朱集矿13-1煤瓦斯基本参数进行了现场和实验室测定,得出了瓦斯含量、瓦斯压力、放散初速度,透气性系数、坚固性系数等参数,并对测定结果进行了理论分析,得出了这些参数的基本规律.结果表明:随着开采深度的增加,在一定深度范围内,其瓦斯压力、瓦斯含量呈线性增长,瓦斯压力与瓦斯含量都比较大；煤层钻孔瓦斯衰减系数较大,该煤层的透气性系数较小,D、K值小于其临界值,可判断出该煤层为难抽煤层且有突出危险性.     

安顺煤矿超前排放钻孔有效排放半径研究及应用

为了解决瓦斯排放孔半径测定过程中由于方法选择和操作等原因而出现的测定结果不够准确,以及由此而导致的空白带出现问题,通过现场试验,采用钻屑解吸指标法测定的方法,通过对测定结果进行综合分析、修正,确定安顺煤矿Φ42 mm直径的排放钻孔有效作用半径为R0.25 m,Φ90 mm直径的排放钻孔有效作用半径为R0.55 m,经实践证明是准确和可靠的,排放钻孔措施在实施过程中有效地避免了空白带的出现。     

我国新环境保护法的突破与展望

论述了我国新环境保护法,国家环境保护规划应当坚持保护优先、预防为主、综合治理、突出重点、全面推进的原则等;新修订的《环保法》要求建立资源环境承载能力监测预警机制;推动多元共治的现代环境治理体系是加大经济处罚的力度。设计了罚款的按日连续计罚规则;要求政府主管部门应当公开环境信息,应当制定和完善公众参与的程序,为公众参与环境监督提供便利等。最后进行了展望。     

Traffic rules and traffic safety

In the present paper the effects of traffic rules on driver behaviour and on traffic safety are discussed. The discussion is mainly based on research conerning driver’s use of safety equipment, their speed adjustment and drunken driving with respect to safety potential, effects of the rules, and effects of enforcement on driver behaviour. Factors influencing drivers’ decisions to comply with rules are also considered. It is concluded that only rules that are possible to enforce should be implemented and that police surveillance should be visible to the drivers. Also, the traffic system should be seen as a social system where drivers are interacting with other drivers and road users. Rules and regulations are important to help the actors of the system to function in a safe and effective way.     

Drought-induced resettlement: a case study from Burkina Faso

As a result of the '16-year drought' that Burkina Faso experienced from the late 1970s to the mid-1980s, there has been significant movement of people from the north of the country to the south. The large numbers of people that were displaced as a result of this natural disaster put pressure on the production systems of the south and caused concern amongst development organisations that environmental degradation would follow. Through a 2-year research period, using participatory approaches, it was found that despite a doubling of the population and the introduction of foreign production systems, the process of communal land control has significantly limited environmental degradation. This paper explains how customary law has controlled the settlement of immigrants (the Mossi and Fulani) and how it has overseen land allocation in three villages. The conclusions of the study indicate that, firstly, the customary law mechanisms in the three villages are effective in addressing communal resource use and, secondly, there is an evolution in customary law systems as they respond to local change. Received: 24 February 1999 · Accepted: 15 May 1999     

ONTARIO'S WATER TAKING PERMIT PROGRAM1

ABSTRACT. Most water takings in Ontario in excess of 10,000 gallons per day for purposes other than domestic, farm, or fire fighting require authorization by permit by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment. The legislation imposes control beyond that under common law, but does not remove common-law obligations. Permits may not be assigned without the Ministry's consent and do not create property rights in water. Permits to take ground-water require permittees to ensure that sufficient water is made available for the needs of prior users who suffer serious water-supply interference due to the taking, or to reduce the rate and amount of taking. Permits to take surface water require permittees to maintain sufficient downstream flow to protect downstream uses of water and natural functions of streams. Specific permit requirements for city wells in the rural Hunsburger Creek basin protect existing well supplies and require maintenance of streamflow for pond levels and fish. Tobacco irrigation in the Big Creek basin reduced streamflow significantly and requires development of more detailed water-management plans for years of extreme demand. Ontario's permit program serves to resolve water-use conflicts, furnishes information on use and provides one means for implementing management plans.     

CONSTRAINTS IN WATER MANAGEMENT ON AGRICULTURAL LANDS1

ABSTRACT Whether the goal is minimizing water quality degradation in receiving streams or maximizing agricultural production on existing croplands; the solutions are identical - improved water management practices. Technology has succeeded in developing feasible solutions to improving irrigation water management, but the law has been slow to encourage or direct implementation. The villain of the western United States water problem is the property right concept of the appropriation doctrine. Improving water management also implies organizational improvements. Also, the so-called “human factor” involves questions of inefficiency and ineffectiveness, that when examined under the criteria of efficacy, may dictate a policy of continuing present practices in certain localities or regions with little technological intervention. The present effort for improving water quality management implies, therefore, a manyfold attack aimed at increasing project irrigation efficiency and effectiveness, under the larger rubric of efficacy and the achievement of larger social goals.     

ADMINISTRATION OF GROUND WATER AS BOTH A RENEWABLE AND NONRENEWABLE RESOURCE1

ABSTRACT: Ground water is intended to be administered in many western states as a flow or renewable resource. In Idaho, this administration is based on the appropriation doctrine of water rights. Two generalizations may be made concerning ground water. First, water artificially discharged from an aquifer system must deplete the total resource by that amount; water consumptively pumped from a well must be derived from either increased recharge, decreased discharge or a decrease of water in storage. Second, the annual rate of recharge to a ground-water system is often only a small percentage of the total resource in storage. Ground water may be divided into flow and stock portions. In those basins where the second generalization is true, most ground water may be classified as stock. However, only the flow portion of ground water may be developed if utilization of the resource is to be enjoyed over an infinite period. Data from the Raft River Basin in Idaho indicate that the flow and stock characteristics of ground water are time dependent. The resource exhibits the characteristics of both a renewable and nonrenewable resource. As a result, present administrative techniques do not provide for effective management of the resource.