Solar energy for electricity and fuels

Solar energy conversion into electricity by photovoltaic modules is now a mature technology. We discuss the need for materials and device developments using conventional silicon and other materials, pointing to the need to use scalable materials and to reduce the energy payback time. Storage of solar energy can be achieved using the energy of light to produce a fuel. We discuss how this can be achieved in a direct process mimicking the photosynthetic processes, using synthetic organic, inorganic, or hybrid materials for light collection and catalysis. We also briefly discuss challenges and needs for large-scale implementation of direct solar fuel technologies.     

Improving graduated driver licensing systems: a conceptual approach and its implications

Graduated driver licensing (GDL) is a concept for how to transform non-drivers into reasonably safe drivers while minimizing the risks as they learn. Several state GDL programs can be improved by moving their structures closer to an adequate implementation of that concept. The learner stage of a GDL system needs to be long enough for beginners to obtain a thorough introduction to the vagaries of driving. The second or intermediate stage needs to effectively limit exposure to known high risk conditions as novices adapt to being fully in charge of the vehicle. The benefits of GDL to date are due almost entirely to the risk-reducing conditions it implements. To improve the functioning of GDL will probably require a better understanding of teen driving than we presently have. The likelihood of further gains will be enhanced by efforts to learn more about the actual causes of teen crashes, the nature and type of teen driver exposures, and what parents do with their teens during the supervised driving stage of GDL. Without a better understanding of these, and other, phenomena it will be difficult to further reduce crashes among young beginning drivers, whether through GDL enhancements or with other approaches.     

Choice of teenagers' vehicles and views on vehicle safety: survey of parents of novice teenage drivers

Objective

To examine parental decisions about vehicles driven by teenagers and parental knowledge of vehicle safety.

Methods

About 300 parents were interviewed during spring 2006 in Minnesota, North Carolina, and Rhode Island while teenagers took their first on-road driving tests.

Results

Fewer than half of parents surveyed said teenagers would be the primary drivers of the chosen vehicles. Parents most often cited safety, existing family vehicle, and reliability when explaining the choices for their teenagers’ vehicles. About half of the vehicles intended for teenagers were small/mini/sports cars, pickups, or SUVs — vehicles considered less safe for teenagers than midsize/large cars or minivans. A large majority of vehicles were 2001 models or earlier. Vehicles purchased in anticipation of adding a new driver to the family were more likely to be the sizes/types considered less safe than vehicles already owned. Few parents insisted on side airbags or electronic stability control, despite strong evidence of their safety benefits. Even when asked to identify ideal vehicles for their teenagers to drive, about half of parents identified less safe vehicle sizes/types. Most parents knew that midsize/large vehicles are safer than small vehicles, and at least half of parents said SUVs and pickups are not safe for teenage drivers, citing instability.

Conclusions

The majority of parents understood some of the important criteria for choosing safe vehicles for their teenagers. However, parents actually selected many vehicles for teenagers that provide inferior crash protection.

Impact on industry

Vehicle safety varies substantially by vehicle size, type, and safety features. Many teenagers are driving inferior vehicles in terms of crashworthiness and crash avoidance.     

An experimental study on the effect of mobile phone conversation on drivers' reaction time in braking response

Introduction

This paper presents an experimental study in which the effect of three factors (distance between cars, mobile call duration, and time of driving (day or night)) on drivers' reaction time in braking response was investigated.

Methods

The experiment was performed in a real driving environment in which 27 male adults between the ages of 22 and 24 years participated. Three levels of the first two factors (i.e., distance between cars and call duration) and two levels of the last factor (i.e., time of driving) were selected to conduct the experimental study. A full factorial design of experiment with 18 treatment combinations and three replicates of each combination were used. Fifty-four trial runs were performed in a random manner and for each run drivers' reaction time in braking response was measured, which served the data for further analysis. Analysis of variance (ANOVA), interaction effect analysis, and various model adequacy tests were carried out using Design Expert software.

Results

The results of the study indicated that the most important factor affecting the drivers' reaction time in car braking response was the mobile call duration followed by the time of driving, with a high level of interaction between the two factors. It was also found that the distance between cars did not seem to have a significant effect on the reaction time in braking response. It is to be noted that these response times are expected to be higher under normal driving conditions where awareness of experimental environment is not present.

Impact on Industry

The findings of this study would help mobile phone industries in improving safety of mobile phone users in driving environment.     

The learner's permit

PROBLEM: This paper considers the role and value of an extended learner's period in a graduated licensing system. METHOD: Review and synthesis of the literature. RESULTS: The learner's permit allows beginners to practice under supervision before attempting the road test for a driver's license. A learner's permit stage was an integral part of the "provisional" (graduated) licensing model initially formulated by NHTSA in the mid-1970s. Almost all Canadian provinces and U.S. states now have graduated licensing (GDL) programs that typically include an extended period of supervised driving. Most parents and teens favor the learner stage, and consistent with the intent of GDL, most learners are practicing and gaining driving experience under low-risk conditions. Research shows that very few learners crash while under supervision and that an extended learner stage has safety benefits. IMPACT ON RESEARCH, PRACTICE AND POLICY: Further research is needed on the safety benefits of an extended learner stage and on its optimal features.     

Graduated driver licensing and safer driving

Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) inserts between the leaner permit and full licensure an intermediate or "provisional" license that allows novices to drive unsupervised but subject to provisions intended to reduce the risks that accompany entry into highway traffic. Introduction of GDL has been followed by lowered accident rates, resulting from both limiting exposure of novices to unsafe situations and by helping them to deal with them more safely. Sources of safer driving include extended learning, early intervention, contingent advancement, and multistage instruction. To extend the learning process, most GDL systems lengthen the duration of the learner phase and require a specified level of adult-supervised driving. Results indicate that extended learning can reduce accidents substantially if well structured and highly controlled. Early intervention with novice traffic violators have shown both a general deterrent effect upon novice violators facing suspension and a specific effect upon those who have experienced it. Making advancement to full licensure contingent upon a violation-free record when driving on the provisional license has also evidenced a reduction in accidents and violations during that phase of licensure. Multistage instruction attempts development of advanced skills only after novices have had a chance to master more basic skills. Although this element of GDL has yet to be evaluated, research indicates crash reduction is possible in situations where it does not increase exposure to risk. While the various elements of GDL have demonstrated potential benefit in enhancing the safety of novice drivers, considerable improvement in the nature and enforcement of GDL requirements is needed to realize that potential.     

Cycle Aware: Piloting a module for novice drivers

Introduction: In low-cycling countries, motor-vehicle traffic and driver behavior are well known barriers to the uptake of bicycles, particularly for utility cycling. Lack of separation between cyclists and faster-moving traffic is one key issue, while attitudes of drivers toward and/or harassment of cyclists is another. Cyclist-related driver education has been recommended as a means to improve driver-cyclist interactions. Methods: The driver licensing process provides an opportunity for such education. The Cycle Aware module was developed to test and enhance novice drivers’ knowledge of interacting safely with cyclists. It was piloted across three Australian jurisdictions targeting both novice and experienced drivers. Participants were asked to complete the Cycle Aware module and an accompanying survey. A total of 134 novice and 97 experienced drivers completed the survey with 42 novice and 50 experienced drivers going on to complete the module. Results: Both groups of drivers scored equally well in the module but the very youngest and very oldest participants were more likely to have some incorrect responses. We did not find any relationship between correct module scores and attitudes toward cyclists. Survey results showed both novice and experienced drivers had somewhat positive attitudes toward cyclists. The two cohorts differed on several attitude questions. Sixty percent (60%) of novices compared to 30% of experienced drivers reported feeling concerned when sharing the road with cyclists, and novices were less likely to agree that cyclists had a right to use the roads. Conclusions and practical applications: The analysis suggests novices need to be better equipped to share roads confidently with cyclists and to recognize cyclists as legitimate traffic participants.     

"The little squealer" or "the virtual guardian angel"? Young drivers' and their parents' perspective on using a driver monitoring technology and its implications for parent-young driver communication

Introduction

In-vehicle driving monitoring technologies have the potential to enable young drivers to learn from self-assessment. However, their use is largely dependent on parental involvement.

Method

A total of 79 interviews were conducted with young drivers and parents regarding this technology and its use. Most had the experience of having an in-vehicle data recorder installed in the vehicle driven by the young drivers. Parents and the young drivers expressed both appreciation as well as reservations about its potential as a means to enhance the driving safety of young drivers.

Results

A surprising finding was that some parents did not check the feedback and said they relied on the young driver to do so. Main concerns related to privacy, parent-young driver relationship, self-esteem and confidence, constructive use of the feedback data, and the limitations of the documentation that can be done by the technology.

Conclusions

Providing parents and young drivers with a support system and tools to discuss and utilize the feedback are underscored. Challenges include addressing the invasion of young drivers’ privacy and gender differences, and using the monitoring-capacity of the technology to enhance safe driving practices. Implications for programs to enhance communication and a dialogical approach between parents and young drivers are discussed.     

Drivers of deforestation and REDD+ benefit-sharing: A meta-analysis of the (missing) link

REDD+ (reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation and related forest activities) is a climate change mitigation mechanism currently being negotiated under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It calls for developed countries to financially support developing countries for their actions to reduce forest-sector carbon emissions. In this paper, we undertake a meta-analysis of the links, if any, between multiple and diverse drivers of deforestation operating at different levels and the benefits accruing from and being shared through REDD+ projects. We do so by assessing the nature of this link in (a) scholarly analysis, through an in-depth analysis of the posited relationship between drivers and REDD+ benefit-sharing, as examined in the peer-reviewed literature; and (b) in policy practice, through analysing how this link is being conceptualised and operationalised, if at all, in REDD+ project design documents. Our meta-analysis suggests that while some local, direct drivers and a few regional indirect drivers of deforestation and forest degradation are being targeted by specific REDD+ interventions and associated benefit-sharing mechanisms at the project-level, most national and international indirect drivers are not. We conclude that the growing academic analyses of REDD+ projects do not (as yet) advance viable theories of change, i.e. there is currently little focus on how REDD+ benefits could play a transformative role in catalysing action on drivers.