Evasive Action Research Articles

An innovative method for categorising the contributing factors to intersection crashes using fault tree modelling

The objective of this research was to develop a new technique for categorising the contributing factors leading to automobile crashes at intersections. Fault tree analysis was used to identify the individual roles played by the driver, vehicle and the road and roadside environment, as well as their interactions in intersection crashes. The application of a fault tree model to an Australian real-world crash data set identified the most common factors contributing to intersection crashes. The most common combination of contributing factors (minimal cut set) was ‘Misjudged speed/gap, No evasive action’, with a probability of occurrence of 0.15. More than one-third (37%) of the serious injury crashes examined were found to be the result of intentional behaviours. Some potential preventative measures were proposed to address these contributing factors.

A novel approach for assistance with anti-collision decision making based on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea

Marine intelligent anti-collision regulations have been a means of dealing with a particularly dangerous problem for many years. As the foundation for making anti-collision decisions, the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea formulated by the International Maritime Organization should always be considered. Based on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, the minimum distance required for anti-collision by only the give-way ship (under normal situations) and by both the give-way ship and the stand-on ship steering simultaneously (under critical situations) under all possible encounter situations are studied respectively. Rather than regarding ships as a point, a restricted area where no evasive action of other ships is allowed is introduced. Furthermore, the ship’s manoeuvrability is taken into account. The proposed model is also assessed by the traditional parameters used in anti-collision such as the closest point of approach, the distance to the closest point of approach and the time to the closest point of approach. The study shows that the results obtained in this paper are important and complement the above-mentioned regulations so that navigators can make wise decisions.

BIOPHYSICS, BIOENERGETICS AND MECHANISTIC APPROACHES TO ECOLOGY

Biophysics – the study of how the structure of individual plants and animals contributes to their function – has rarely been considered on the ecological scale. However, Mark Denny from Stanford University, USA, has a broader vision. Because the mechanisms that underpin individual performance

Improving flight condition situational awareness through Human Centered Design

In aviation, there is currently a lack of accurate and timely situational information, specifically weather data, which is essential when dealing with the unpredictable complexities that can arise while flying. For example, weather conditions that require immediate evasive action by the flight crew, such as isolated heavy rain, micro bursts, and atmospheric turbulence, require that the flight crew receive near real-time and precise information about the type, position, and intensity of those conditions. Human factors issues arise in considering how to display the various sources of weather information to the users of that information and how to integrate this display into the existing environment. In designing weather information display systems, it is necessary to meet the demands of different users, which requires an examination of the way in which the users process and use weather information. Using Human Centered Design methodologies and concepts will result in a safer, more efficient and more intuitive solution. Specific goals of this approach include 1) Enabling better fuel planning; 2) Allowing better divert strategies; 3) Ensuring pilots, navigators, dispatchers and mission planners are referencing weather from the same sources; 4) Improving aircrew awareness of aviation hazards such as turbulence, icing, hail and convective activity; 5) Addressing inconsistent availability of hazard forecasts outside the United States Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ); and 6) Promoting goal driven approaches versus event driven (prediction).

Skills of novices early trained or traditionaly trained versus experienced drivers confronted to simulated urban accidents’ scenarios

In order to prevent the over-representation of young drivers in car crashes, France instated an early driver training from the age of 16, but the positive effects of this opportunity have not yet been proven. Three groups of male drivers (12 subjects each) were confronted with some prototypical accident scenarios introduced in a simulated urban circuit. The first and second groups were composed of young drivers having less than one month of driving licence; twelve have had a traditional learning course, and twelve had followed, in addition to the initial course, an early driver training under the supervision of an adult. The third group was composed of experienced drivers. Strategies of the three groups were analyzed through their response time, speed and maneuvers. No difference appeared across groups regarding obstacle detection. But traditionally-trained drivers' position control was more conservative than the two others groups, which were more likely to involve efficient evasive action. The exposure gained during early training could thus increase the development of visuo-motor coordination and involve better skills in case of difficult situations. Others accidents' scenarios could be used to confront young drivers with difficult situations not commonly encountered in natural driving.

Determination of collision criteria and causation factors appropriate to a model for estimating the probability of maritime accidents

In this paper, a study leading towards a new definition of a ship–ship collision criterion, allowing further estimation of the probability of maritime accidents is conducted. The criterion is called the minimum distance to collision (MDTC) and reflects the shortest distance between two ships at which they must take evasive actions to avoid a collision. The new criterion is evaluated by means of a series of simulations using a ship motion model for a range of ship types, courses and speeds and thus its dynamic nature is recognised. It addresses the crossing type of ship–ship encounter. Additionally, this study defines a causation factor, which quantifies the proportions of cases in which two ships meeting each other end up having a collision. The causation factor is obtained in the course of maritime traffic analysis and accidents statistics. A comparative method is applied and the causation factors are determined for three different meeting types (head-on, crossing and overtaking). The causation factors obtained are valid for the MDTC model, chosen location and prevailing traffic conditions. The major factors affecting the MDTC criterion and relevant steps in the evaluation of the causation factors are described and discussed in the paper.

P20 Impact of patients' perception of problem driving, symptoms and severity of obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) on outcomes on an advanced office based driving simulator

IntroductionCurrently advice about an OSAS patient's fitness to drive is based upon the severity of the condition, with or without objective measure of daytime sleepiness and their account of their...

P21 Does time of day affect outcomes on an advanced office based driving simulator in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS)?

IntroductionRoad traffic accidents (RTA) are known to peak at certain times of the day especially early afternoons. OSAS patients are at higher risk of being involved in RTA. Recently we...

LARVAE ASSOCIATE BAD VIBRATIONS WITH ODOURS

Understanding the neural basis of memory and learning is one of the Holy Grails of neurobiology, but untangling convoluted memory networks in human brains is currently impossible. So neurobiologists have turned their attention to animals that learn and form memories in much simpler brains. Bertram Gerber and colleagues from Germany explain that Drosophila larvae can learn to associate odours with punishment – unpleasant tastes and mild electric shocks – but no one had tested whether they could associate odours with disturbing vibrations. Given that vibration can be more finely controlled than other aversive stimulants, the team decided to find out whether the larvae could be trained to associate disagreeable vibrations with specific odours (p. 3897).Training 50 larvae in a Petri dish by exposing them to 200 ms bursts – a buzz – of 100 Hz vibration from a loudspeaker in the presence of 1-octanol odour and then exposing them to n-amyl acetate with the loudspeaker turned off, the team then tested which odour the larvae avoided in the presence of the vibration threat: the larvae wriggled away from the 1-octanol odour. And when the team repeated the experiments, this time associating the vibration with n-amyl acetate odour and no vibration with 1-octanol, the vibrated larvae avoided n-amyl acetate when presented with a choice.After characterising the larvae's behaviour as an escape response, the team also found that the strength of the association between the vibration and odour increased when they increased the number of buzzes and the length of the training period. However, the team point out that the larvae only take evasive action when under threat from the vibration, and they say, ‘Aversive memories are behaviourly expressed in the presence of punishment but not in its absence, and... are embedded into a conditioned “escape routine” which is employed only when escape is warranted.’

Rockfall characterisation and structural protection – a review

Abstract. Rockfall is an extremely rapid process involving long travel distances. Due to these features, when an event occurs, the ability to take evasive action is practically zero and, thus, the risk of injury or loss of life is high. Damage to buildings and infrastructure is quite likely. In many cases, therefore, suitable protection measures are necessary. This contribution provides an overview of previous and current research on the main topics related to rockfall. It covers the onset of rockfall and runout modelling approaches, as well as hazard zoning and protection measures. It is the aim of this article to provide an in-depth knowledge base for researchers and practitioners involved in projects dealing with the rockfall protection of infrastructures, who may work in the fields of civil or environmental engineering, risk and safety, the earth and natural sciences.

Sound Strategies: The 65-Million-Year-Old Battle Between Bats and Insects

The intimate details regarding the coevolution of bats and moths have been elucidated over the past 50 years. The bat-moth story began with the evolution of bat sonar, an exquisite ultrasonic system for tracking prey through the night sky. Moths countered with ears tuned to the high frequencies of bat echolocation and with evasive action through directed turns, loops, spirals, drops, and power dives. Some bat species responded by moving the frequency and intensity of their echolocation cries away from the peak sensitivity of moth ears, and the arms race was on. Tiger moths countered by producing anti-bat sounds. Do the sounds advertise moth toxicity, similar to the bright coloration of butterflies; do they startle the bat, giving the moth a momentary advantage in their aerobatic battle; or do they jam the sonar of the bat? The answer is yes. They do all and more in different situations and in different species. Any insect that flies at night must deal with bat predation. Beetles, mantids, true crickets, mole crickets, katydids, green lacewings, and locusts have anti-bat strategies, and we have just scratched the surface. In an exciting new twist, researchers are taking the technologies developed in the laboratory back into the field, where they are poised to appreciate the full richness of this remarkable predator-prey interaction.

The Evaluation of Traditional and Early Driver Training With Simulated Accident Scenarios

We assessed the driving skills of novice traditionally trained, novice early-trained, and experienced drivers to evaluate whether supervised early training could improve young drivers' skills. The overall representation of young male drivers in car crashes is a recurrent problem in developed countries.To prevent this overrepresentation, France institutes an early driver training program from the age of 16 with the supervision of an adult. However, evidence of the positive effects of this system is still lacking. Three groups of drivers (12 participants each) were confronted with five prototypical accident scenarios introduced in a simulated urban circuit. Drivers' response time, speed, and vehicle position in the lane were analyzed. No difference was detected across groups regarding obstacle detection, as revealed by the analysis of response times. But in some unexpected scenarios, position control by traditionally trained drivers was more conservative than for more experienced drivers, and early-trained drivers were far more likely to respond with efficient evasive action. The exposure gained by an early training program could thus increase the development of visuomotor coordination and involve better skills in challenging situations. The supplementary driving experience gained with the supervision of an adult during early training could promote the skills necessary to deal with risky situations. Driving simulators could be used to confront young drivers with a broad range of hazardous scenarios not commonly encountered in natural driving.

Outline for a causal model of traffic conflicts and crashes

Road crashes tend to be infrequent but with nontrivial consequences, leading to a long-running interest in identifying surrogate events, such as traffic conflicts, that can support a timely recognition and correction of safety deficiencies. Although a variety of possible surrogates have been suggested, questions remain regarding how crashes and surrogates are related. Using recent developments in causal analysis we propose a simple model which represents crashes and conflicts as resulting from interactions between initiating conditions and evasive actions, and then use this model to identify relationships between these types of events. Our first set of results expresses the probability of a crash as a mixture of probabilities over different sets of initiating conditions, where the mixing probabilities are governed by the evasive action. Our second set of results considers situations where sampling is restricted to non-crash events, and gives conditions where these truncated probabilities can serve as proxies for crash probabilities. We then illustrate how trajectory-based reconstruction can be used to classify initiating events with respect to severity, and to estimate a proxy for the crash probability from a set of incompletely observed non-crash events.

Mining Microscopic Data of Vehicle Conflicts and Collisions to Investigate Collision Factors

Road collisions lead to great human and financial costs for society. Although some progress has been made, this worldwide issue needs more attention, as the costs increase. Proactive methods for road safety analysis that do not depend on collision occurrences are needed. Collection and analysis of microscopic data (road user trajectories) about all traffic events with and without a collision are the only ways to gain insight into collision factors and processes; that is, the chains of events that lead to collisions. The first phase of the project reported in this paper used microscopic data extracted from video sensors and data mining techniques to identify patterns in the traffic event database. Decision trees, the k-means algorithm, and the hierarchical agglomerative clustering method were used to analyze the relationship between interaction attributes and outcome (collision or not) and identify groups of interactions with similar attributes. This approach was demonstrated on a data set collected in Kentucky of 295 traffic events and contained 213 conflicts and 82 collisions. The decision tree confirmed the importance of evasive action in the interaction outcome. Three clusters were found from speed indicators extracted from road users' trajectories: the cluster containing the fewest collisions had the lowest speeds of the three. This result hints at the existence of conflicts that are dissimilar from most collisions and may therefore not be suitable for surrogate safety analysis.

S15 An office based advanced driving simulator to assess driving performance in Obstructive Sleep Apnoea Syndrome (OSAS): a pilot study

<h3>Introduction</h3> Advising patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnoea Syndrome (OSAS) about whether they are safe to drive is challenging. Driving simulator studies have shown that OSAS patients perform poorly (Hack <i>et al</i>, 2001) but most simulators are simple, not realistic and in particular lack face validity, for example, multiple off road events during a short run. The Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds, host the UK9s most sophisticated driving simulator but had also developed a PC based simulator (MiniSim) which incorporates the same realistic graphics and is much closer to ‘proper’ driving than most existing systems. It thus has the potential to be used in everyday clinical practice. We have investigated whether two parameters, proportion of high frequency steering activity (HFS) and standard deviation of lane position (SDLP), previously shown to be impaired in drivers suffering from fatigue, might predict drivers’ behaviour in safety-critical scenarios. <h3>Methods</h3> After a practice run, 63 patients (age 53±10, ESS 11±3, ODI 39±19) completed 50 min motorway driving on the MiniSim. Two situations were programmed that required evasive action to avoid a crash. A ‘fail’ was determined by an outright crash or veering completely out of lane. We compared HFS and SDLP in subjects with ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ and with Oxygen Desaturation Index (ODI) and Epworth Sleepiness Score (ESS). <h3>Results</h3> (Abstract S15 Table 1) ‘Fail’ was more likely with worse sleep disordered breathing, but was not affected by subjective sleepiness. Subjects who ‘failed’ had significantly worse HFS (0.27 vs 0.34, p=0.03) &amp; SDLP (0.58 vs 0.41, p=0.002). Both HFS &amp; SDLP worsened with time. There was also a strong correlation between HFS &amp; SDLP (r=0.51, p&lt;0.0001). <h3>Conclusion</h3> These data show that HFS and SDLP have promise as objective markers of poor driving in OSAS patients. They relate to measures of disease severity and to an event which has face validity as an indicator of poor driving in the real world. The patient will not be aware that they are being measured and therefore they have potential for repeated use.

Value of paint transfer and damage examinations in the forensic investigation of boat collisions

Key information sought in a boat collision investigation includes: path and direction of boats, speed, impact angle, impact site, and evasive actions. Boat collision and road traffic collision investigations are similar in application of dynamics, Newton's Laws and kinetic energy, and in examiningdamages, contact evidence, and navigation lights. Unlike road accidents, boat collisions do not leave skidmarks and scars on roads. Road vehicles usually follow clearly marked lanes and directions and come to rest on the ground after collision, unlike boats in open seas. The positions and orientations of boats when investigated can differ markedly from those immediately after engagement. Finding collision debris is more difficult in boat collisions— debris could sink to a murky seabed or disperse and float away from the impact site. Like road vehicles, boats may suffer full impact or partial impact collisions. A displacement hull may cause a slamming (full impact) or a sideswipe, dependingwhether impact occurredator away from the impactedboat's point of rotation. A high-speed boat with a planing hull may ramp up onto a low-profile boat, pushing it down into water. The nature and extent of damages depend on relative sizes, boat design, construction, strength of the structural framework, hard parts, and shell plating materials. 3-D movements such as rotation (yaw), pitching, and rolling are easier and more pronounced on water. Flooding due to the entry of water can critically affect buoyancy, centre of gravity and stability, and may capsize and sink the swamped boat. The analysis of damages on the gunwale, bow, deck, and hull, complemented by identification of paint transfers (chips, smears and rub-off), can reveal contacting surfaces and the directionality of the colliding vessels. Contact damage and induced damage include: holes, dents, imprints, bending, collapse, protrusions, fractures, abrasion, scrapes (scoring), and scuffmarks. Damages in the boat and injuries to occupants may indicate occupant kinematics. If undisturbed, the positions of the throttle, levers, gauges and switches, propellers and rudder provide a critical snapshot at collision. GPS equipment and voyage data recorders provide critical information, but unfortunately are usually found only on larger and more sophisticated vessels or military and law enforcement boats. Toxicological analysis indicates whether the boat operator was under influence of medication, alcohol or drugs. Eyewitness accounts must be carefully evaluated against physical evidence. Case studieswill be used to illustrate the value of damage and paint evidence in boat collision investigations.

Event-Related Desynchronization of Spontaneous Rhythm Caused by Anticipation of Collision

Event Abstract Back to Event Event-Related Desynchronization of Spontaneous Rhythm Caused by Anticipation of Collision Gakuto Aoyama1*, Koichi Yokosawa1, Shinya Kuriki2 and Makoto Takahashi1 1 Hokkaido University, Japan 2 Tokyo Denki University, Japan Animals, including human beings, subconsciously evade collisions. We have been investigating endogenous brain activity by MEG when humans anticipate a collision or intend to take evasive action. A form that expands rapidly while maintaining shape is recognized as a collision [1]. We presented participants with a collision-simulating image with a prior cue signal. Here we report results showing how spontaneous brain activity is modified by anticipation of a collision. MEG signals were recorded with a 76-ch helmet system (Elekta-Neuromag, custom-type) from 11 healthy male volunteers (24.9±3.9 years old). Each participant was presented with a visual collision-simulating stimulus in which a black indeterminate form expanded on a grey background in 170 ms (A: collision stimulus). As controls, two kinds of stimuli were presented. One was a uniform background, the brightness of which decreased with time to darkness (B: darkening stimulus), and the other was the black indeterminate form that changed in size in a random manner (C: random stimulus). A cue stimulus was given visually two seconds before each (A, B, or C) stimulus to enable the participant to anticipate the coming stimulus. One experimental session included 120 epochs per stimulus, in random order. Amplitude of spontaneous alpha band (8-13 Hz) rhythm decreased just after the onset of each stimulus and increased dramatically 400 ms later. The most notable result was that the amplitude of alpha rhythm before the collision stimulus (A) was significantly smaller than that before each control stimulus (B or C) (p<0.05) during the period between cue and stimulus. This result suggests that spontaneous brain activity in the alpha band is reduced by anticipating a negative (dangerous) event, possibly to prepare evasive action.

Rapid response or evasive action? Regional organization responses to peace operation demands

Scholars have largely overlooked a critical influence on the effectiveness of organizations in their conduct of peace operations: response duration. The consequences of prolonging the time between the demand and supply of a peace operation often include a rise in the death toll on the ground and a fall in the operation's legitimacy in the eyes of the local population. This paper aims to present and explain surprising variation among regional organizations' response rates – a critical influence on operations' prospects for success. The evidence that I have collected shows that despite its relative superior capacity, the European Union responds more slowly than the African Union and other less affluent regional organizations conducting similar peace operations. Applying theories of international organization pathologies, the paper argues that institutional design problems of bureaucratic dysfunction hinder organizations' abilities to rapidly respond.

Tiger Moth Jams Bat Sonar

In response to sonar-guided attacking bats, some tiger moths make ultrasonic clicks of their own. The lepidopteran sounds have previously been shown to alert bats to some moths' toxic chemistry and also to startle bats unaccustomed to sonic prey. The moth sounds could also interfere with, or "jam," bat sonar, but evidence for such jamming has been inconclusive. Using ultrasonic recording and high-speed infrared videography of bat-moth interactions, we show that the palatable tiger moth Bertholdia trigona defends against attacking big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) using ultrasonic clicks that jam bat sonar. Sonar jamming extends the defensive repertoire available to prey in the long-standing evolutionary arms race between bats and insects.

BATS SPOT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GOOD AND BAD TASTING MOTH MIMICS

![Figure][1] No matter how stealthy, a bat can't hide its approach from sharp-eared moth victims. As soon as a target hears an inbound attacker, it takes immediate evasive action. But that isn't the moth's only line of defence. Jesse Barber from Wake Forest University explains that some moths