Frequency Of Traffic Accidents Research Articles

고속도로 연결로의 교통사고예측모형 개발

PURPOSES: Using the collected data for crash, traffic volume, and design elements on ramps between 2007 and 2009, this research effort was initiated to develop traffic crash prediction models for expressway ramps. METHODS: Three negative binomial regression models and three zero-inflated negative binomial regression models were developed for individual ramp types, including direct, semi-direct and loop, respectively. For validating the developed models, authors compared the estimated crash frequencies with actual crash frequencies of twelve randomly selected interchanges, the ramps of which have not been used for model developing. RESULTS: The results show that the negative binomial regression models for direct, semi-direct and loop ramps showed 60.3%, 63.8% and 48.7% error rates on average whereas the zero-inflated negative binomial regression models showed 82.1%, 120.4% and 57.3%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Conclusively, the negative binomial regression models worked better in traffic crash prediction than the zero-inflated negative binomial regression models for estimating the frequency of traffic accidents on expressway ramps.

Return to Driving After Severe Traumatic Brain Injury

To determine the frequency of road traffic accidents among individuals who start or resume driving after severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) and to investigate their responsibility for these accidents. Observational/retrospective study. Sixty adults with severe TBI and their caregivers. Return to Driving Questionnaire and Glasgow Outcome Scale. Thirty of the 60 participants started to drive or resumed driving after TBI. Nineteen (63%) of them were involved in traffic accidents, with personal responsibility in 26 of 36 after return to driving. Participants caused a significantly higher number of accidents after TBI than before. The ability to drive is frequently compromised after severe TBI. Specific rehabilitation of this complex activity should be a main goal of social reintegration programs in this population.

차선재료의 내구성 향상을 위한 내마모성 시험 적용 연구

There is the uncertain period of the construction in case of the products meeting the quality standard of KS M 6080, the quality is degraded because of the abrasive loss of the paint caused by vehicle tires as the traffic amount increases and of the loss and detachment of the glass beads providing the retroreflective function. The abrupt degradation of visibility causes the high frequency of traffic accidents at night and increases the traffic accident rate. Additional supplementary construction induces the direct material and construction costs. As the more cost induction effect than the direct cost, the traffic jam caused by the additional construction increases the indirect social costs such as time cost and vehicle cost. Hence, the study is concerned with performing the abrasion resistance test based on the EN 1436 standard to check and improve the quality of various road marking materials resulting in improving the durability of road marking materials. However, even though the difference in the durability lifetime of resins(binders) is bibliographically or theoretically clear, there was no difference in the durability lifetime (retroreflectivity aspect) of the road marking paint using these binders. The reason is that the bonding of beads was very insufficient or that the cross density caused by crack or freshness was low. Moreover, the measured wet retroreflectivity was distributed as the Rw3 or higher class in average on the basis of EN 1436 but was very insufficient on the basis of the minimum wet threshold retroreflectivity with 100mcd/() managed overseas.

THORACIC TRAUMA

Objective: To assess the pattern of thoracic trauma in two semi urban university hospitals in Nigeria, to determine the injuries associated with thoracic trauma, its management and outcome in a setting of small thoracic units and limited intensive care unit facilities. Study Design: Observational Method: The hospital records of 142 patients who sustained thoracic trauma between September 2007 and September 2010 were reviewed. The mode of injury, specific intrathoracic trauma, associated injuries, management and outcome were analyzed. Results: Eighty-two percent (82%) of patients were males and 73% of patients were above 40 years. Blunt thoracic trauma accounted for 77% of thoracic injuries. Road Traffic Accident (RTA) was the commonest cause of Blunt Chest Trauma (90%) while Gunshot injuries constituted the commonest cause of Penetrating Chest Trauma (73%). The commonest specific thoracic injuries were Rib fractures and Haemopneumothorax. Extremity injuries were the commonest associated extrathoracic injuries. Mechanical ventilatory assistance was indicated in 8.5% of patients. Only 1.4% of patients had delayed thoracotomy on account of clotted haemothorax and Empyema Thoracis. 2.8% of patients had Laparotomy for repair of Traumatic Diaphragmatic hernia. Others were managed conservatively. The mortality rate was 9.9%. Mortality was mainly among patients who required mechanical ventilatory support and those with associated severe extra thoracic injuries. Most of the patients were discharged before 20 days on admission. Conclusions: The incidence of chest trauma can be reduced by minimizing the frequency of road traffic accidents, abating violence and improving security. Most patients that sustain thoracic trauma can be managed conservatively. Mortality usually occurs in patients with associated severe extrathoracic trauma and those who require ventilatory support. Improving Intensive care unit facilities and training more trauma/thoracic surgeons and intensivists in the developing countries will help to reduce the mortality rate of chest trauma.

The application of reliability models in traffic accident frequency analysis

Analysis of traffic accident frequency represents an important subject of research of many authors. From the aspect of temporal analysis of traffic accident occurrence, two approaches have been singled out in previous practice: the collective (analyzes traffic accidents over a longer period of time) and individual (analyzes traffic accidents in real time). The paper shows that the system reliability theory, with certain adjustments, can be largely used to analyze traffic accident frequency based on the individual approach. A certain similarity has been observed between the system reliability theory and the traffic safety theory, and conceptual adjustment of equivalent terms and states has been performed based on this. A model has been successfully tested on the basis of which, for the road and sections, we have determined the traffic accident frequency, the probability of the occurrence of a certain number of traffic accidents and the mean time between two consecutive traffic accidents.

Having Witnesses Present

Our colleagues from Aachen focused in their article on the ability to drive and assessment by occupational physicians, both topics of great importance for patients with epilepsy. Unfortunately, the cited Guidelines for the Evaluation for Suitability for Driving Motor Vehicles are out of date and the special recommendations from the German employers liability association (Berufsgenossenschaft) for the assessment of the occupational suitability of persons with epilepsy (1) are not mentioned. The restrictive tenor of the article gives cause for concern. The aim of physician’s intervention should always be to prompt those affected to comply with the driving license guidelines. This is usually not achieved by giving information on regulations and then asking for a signature. The necessary documentation can usually be completed even without urging the patients to give their signature, which is often perceived as humiliating—namely, by having a witness present during giving information. There no “general” obligation on the physician’s part to report a patient’s unsuitability for driving a motor vehicle to the authorities, but there is no obligation to report at all; mandatory reporting has not reduced the frequency of traffic accidents caused by epilepsy patients (2). Reporting the patient to the licensing authorities is the last resort, which, among others presupposes that the doctor “made a serious attempt to discourage the patient from driving.” How such an attempt might look is not explained in any detail, but it is exactly this, which distinguishes the medical from a merely legal approach. As far as the professional situation of the patient is concerned, it is disturbing to read that epilepsy and gainful employment are still associated with early retirement, almost as if by some kind of reflex. Is the principle of “rehabilitation before retirement” unknown? Epilepsy patients do have access to services providing medical rehabilitation and participation in professional life. Why does the article not mention rehabilitation measures according to book IX of the German social code (SGB IX)? If epilepsy problems are dealt with in such an ill-informed way, it is hardly surprising that the age at early retirement for epilepsy patients is still several years lower than that of other people who retire early (3).

Establishment and efficacy evaluation of autoregression moving average model for prediction of general traffic accidents in one district of Chongqing

Objective To establish an autoregression moving average (ARMA) model for predicting general traffic accidents and analyzing distributional difference on time series and frequency of common traffic accident so as to provide certain basis for a prediction model with better stability and accuracy. Methods The data of road traffic accidents in one newly developed zone of Chongqing in 2000-2005 were collected. The monthly distribution regularity of road traffic accidents was analyzed with descriptive epidemiologic method. ARMA model was set up for retrospective and prospective prediction. The predicted data were compared. Results Based on the characteristics of monthly distribution, the frequency of general traffic accidents in this area showed a cyclic fashion. The frequency of general traffic accidents predicted by ARMA model had over 80% of coincidence with the actual value. Conclusion The ARMA model can be used to predict the frequency of general traffic accidents, with better accuracy of short-term prediction than the long-term prediction. Key words: Accidents, traffic; ARMA; Time series; Prediction model

Driving performance in patients with homonymous visual field defects and healthy subjects in a standardized virtual reality environment

Abstract Purpose The aim of this study was to assess whether visual field‐related parameters per se are able to predict driving performance of patients with homonymous visual field defects (HVFDs) and healthy controls in a standardized virtual reality (VR) environment. Methods Thirty‐two patients with HVFDs due to cerebro‐vascular lesions and 32 healthy control subjects underwent testing on a driving simulator under two levels of traffic density. Driving performance was defined as the frequency of accidents under VR‐conditions. From the binocular visual field, as measured with kinetic perimetry, we assessed the area of sparing within the affected hemifield (A‐SPAR) and the perimetric reaction time (RT). Results Frequency of traffic accidents was best explained by traffic density, age of individuals, A‐SPAR and RT. This model explained 78% of the total variability (Radj2 = 0.78). All factors were significant. The effect of traffic density explained 63.4 % of the total variance. Age, A‐SPAR and RT were minor effects explaining only 2.7%, 2.0% and 0.9% respectively. Conclusion The extent of the visual field loss is weakly related to driving performance. This finding suggests that – at least for this group of patients – the visual field‐related parameters should not be taken as the sole indicator of fitness to drive. Some patients with HVFDs demonstrated sufficient compensatory driving behavior during the simulated test ride, presumably due to eye and head movements. Driving performance declined slightly with age; these changes were exacerbated in the presence of cerebro‐vascular disease.

Baumunfälle im Straßenverkehr - Unfallmechanismus und Verletzungsmuster

In Germany, the county of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has got the highest frequency of traffic accidents. 42 % of all deadly injured car accident victims in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern sustained a tree collision. Aim of this study was to analyze tree collisions regarding typical pattern and severity of injury. During an on-going prospective, non-interventional accident survey within a defined area of the county of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern tree collisions with minimum one victim sustaining a Maximum Abbreviated Injury Scale of 1-6 injury were analyzed. In between January 2001 and June 2004 287 accidents were documented. 19 % (54) were tree collisions. 81 % of drivers were male. 36 of 54 tree collisions (67 %) occurred on straight roadways. The mean ISS was 31.3 (SD +/- 29.8), 30 % (23) of the passengers died. 70 of 78 individuals sustained more than one injury. With that, the combination of head- and chest trauma was most frequent and associated with the highest injury severity. Especially tree collisions lead to severe trauma. Interestingly, most accidents did occur on straight roadways.

A preliminary evaluation of the impact of local accident information on the public perception of road safety

The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimate that road traffic accidents represent the third leading cause of “death and disease” worldwide. A number of countries have, therefore, launched safety campaigns that have reduced their fatalities. In almost every case, however, this reduction has not been matched by a fall in the total frequency of road traffic accidents. Low-severity incidents remain a significant problem. “Attribution error” provides one plausible explanation for this phenomenon. Most drivers believe that they are less likely to be involved in an accident than other motorists. Existing road safety campaigns do little to address this problem; they focus on national and regional statistics that often seem remote from the local experiences of road users. This paper, therefore, describes the design and development of a system to provide the general public with access to information on the location and circumstances of road accidents in a Scottish city. The closing sections describe the initial results from a psychometric study that is intended to determine whether the information provided by such an application will have any impact on individual risk perception.

Speeding drivers’ attitudes and perceptions of speed cameras in rural England

There is evidence that excessive speed leads to an increased frequency and severity of road traffic accidents, but it is not clear how speeds may be reduced. To increase understanding of why drivers exceed the speed limits, the views of a sample of road users who had been prosecuted for exceeding the speed limit in the rural county of Norfolk England were sought. Respondents were categorised into a four group driver typology comprising conformers (those who report they never exceed limits) deterred drivers (those put off speeding by the presence of cameras), manipulators (those who slow only at camera locations) and defiers (those who exceed limits regardless of cameras), and the consistency of opinions was compared between the groups. Speeding was perceived as widespread and normal, and many drivers resented camera enforcement. Indeed, some respondents considered that cameras in themselves caused dangerous driving. For many drivers, the prosecution experience resulted in distress, anger and anti-camera sentiments, predominantly because they expressed the belief that they were more skilled than other drivers. It was also apparent that many respondents displayed a lack of awareness of the link between speed and collisions. Conformers were the least likely to state that the prosecution had deterred them from further speeding behaviour, possibly because they perceived themselves as already law-abiding. The deterred drivers were most likely to express intentions to avoid further speeding and their speeding incident was found to be most likely to be accidental. Manipulators and defiers tended to report that they had deliberately chosen to infringe the speed limits. Manipulators often acknowledged that their style of driving was dangerous; however, they failed to link this to their own behaviour. It was evident that many defiers and manipulators did not perceive speeding as a serious traffic law violation. Possible implications for road safety initiatives are discussed and recommendations are given for specifically targeting different driver types.

Safety at Scene—A Manual for Paramedics and Immediate Care Doctors

I wish this excellent little book had been in print when I was working on the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service some six years ago. It might have spared me the minor embarrassment of nearly being electrocuted by the live rail while attending an incident where a woman had thrown herself under a tube train. Vic Calland's book contains a wealth of background information about the technical aspects of accident scenes of a kind that is difficult to acquire except through personal experience. He is to be congratulated for distilling his expertise into a readable and informative text. Most doctors practise within the safe environment of the surgery or hospital. Within this setting we are accustomed to being ‘team leaders’, to making the critical decisions on priority and management, and to being in control. Outside hospital the position is very different. Accidents by their very nature present dangers to emergency service personnel, as re-emphasized by the deaths of many New York firefighters and policemen when the World Trade Center towers collapsed. In the early stages of a major incident or even a medium-size road traffic accident, chaos reigns. In such circumstances, ‘first responders’ must be constantly aware of the risks to their own safety and avoid becoming casualties themselves. The rapid re-establishment of control is the key to a successful outcome. Within this framework, doctors are not team leaders but team members who come under the control of other emergency services, usually the police or fire services. An understanding of this principle and an acceptance of an initially subordinate role of the medical services is crucial to the smooth and safe management of an accident scene. In keeping with the frequency of road traffic accidents in the UK, about half the book is devoted to incident management, vehicle safety, casualty extraction and risks of hazardous substances at the accident scene. The remainder of the text contains much valuable technical information on specific scenarios, such as chemical and radiation hazards, the basics of aircraft, rail and underground safety and even hostage situations. Having been written before autumn 2001, the section on biological agents does not cover the now feared microbes such as anthrax, plague and smallpox, but we can hardly expect the author to be clairvoyant. That said, the section on chemical decontamination procedures is comprehensive and applies equally to biological threats. My only criticism concerns the lack of a chapter on the effects of bomb blasts—familiar to many in Northern Ireland and, to a lesser extent, to the emergency services of London and other major cities in the UK. In view of recent events, this is an area of practice we may all need to revise. This concise and easy-to-read text is sensibly fitted with a laminated cover to protect against stains from coffee, blood and oil, all familiar to the immediate care practitioner. I recommend it to anybody with an interest in prehospital medicine.

Incidence Of Emergencies During The 24 Hours Of A Day In The Region Of Ioannina Greece

BACKGROUND AND GOAL OF THE STUDY The present statistical study concerns the peak hours of emergencies during day and night in the time period of 1999-2000. One doctor and two paramedics do the prehospital care and transport of emergencies in this center after receiving a phone call. There was only one doctor in this center for the year 1999-2000. Today there are two doctors. We want to examine if according to the peak hours the care is sufficient enough. MATERIALS AND METHODS There was a classification of emergencies in car accidents, diseases of the cardiovascular system and situations of all the other systems. We consider as emergencies those with at least one abnormal parameter of initial assessment.(Airway, Breathing, Circulation, Disability, Exposure) In our center we have usually 30 events per day, in total population of 100.000 people. There were included and all those events just carried by paramedics in hospitals, because of lack of doctor. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS The frequency of traffic accidents is bigger in the morning hours (50%), between 0800-1300.The rest 50% take place the other hours, 1500-2300. The remarkable is that after midnight the traffic accidents are or fatal or with only material damages. The emergencies of cardiovascular system1 also appear in the morning hours (50%) About 11% are in the hours 1300-1600 and the rest are in the hours 1700-2300. The emergencies of other systems usually take place during 0800-1300( 70%). The rest of them occur in the afternoon, while 4% includes poisoning, suicide2 and drug abuse. CONCLUSION Having the knowledge of the frequency of emergencies the limited medical personnel covers up the emergencies mainly in the peak hours. In the year 2001 doctors, in 90% of events have treated the emergencies of the region.

Analyse comparative des accidents de la route survenus durant l'hiver et l'été au Québec, 1989–1996

This paper examines the impact of winter weather conditions and the state of the road surface on the frequency of road traffic accidents in Quebec (1989–1996). While 60.5% of all accidents occurred during the winter, the majority of fatal accidents occurred outside this period (88 per month in winter as opposed to 124 per month on average in the rest of the year), and the same applies for severe injuries (47 per month in winter, 691 in the rest of the year). However, damage-only accidents were more frequent in winter (15,281 per month during the winter as opposed to 12,665 per month in the rest of the year). Half the winter accidents which occurred during the winter period occurred during clear weather and two-thirds of the fatal accidents occurred on a pavement with low skidding resistance. In both cases, the accidents were caused more by driver behaviour than road conditions, which encourages us to take steps to improve accident prevention campaigns.

Urban injuries in Tehran: demography of trauma patients and evaluation of trauma care

Trauma now attracts more attention than ever before as a major cause of death and disability in developed and developing countries. To describe the characteristics and outcome of injuries in our environment, and to identify and discuss possible preventative and management protocols that may also be adopted in developing countries, we designed a prospective study on all trauma patients consecutively attending three emergency departments over a period of 1 year in Tehran, Iran. Among the total of 58 013 patients studied, workers were the most vulnerable occupational group and deserve special preventative measures. The high frequency of traffic (especially pedestrian) accidents suggests that considerable progress is required in preventing these injuries. Our hospitalized patients were comparable with patients in the Major Trauma Outcome Study ( m=0.890), and the z (−15.485) and w (−2.447) statistics showed an unsatisfactory quality of care, which may partly be due to less usage of ambulances, the long time of transportation to hospital, frequent referrals between centres, and delayed and inadequate resuscitation by the emergency services. Based on our findings and the fact that the positive effect of trauma systems on outcome has been well documented, we suggest that an integrated trauma system be established in Tehran to improve the quality of trauma care.

Daylight Savings Time Changes and Construction Accidents

Recent research has shown that the frequency of traffic accidents is influenced by changes in clocks from standard time to daylight savings time. A study was conducted to determine if a similar phenomenon existed with the occurrence of injuries in the construction industry. Data relating to injury claims of construction workers in the state of Washington for 1900–1996 were analyzed to determine if stress due to the change in time from standard to daylight savings in the spring and from daylight savings to standard time in the fall, respectively, resulted in an increase and decrease in construction accidents. For spring and fall, with respect to injury frequency, the injury frequency for the Monday following the change of time was compared with that of the Monday before the change, and the Monday 1 week later. No statistical differences were found to exist. In addition, injury statistics for the week before the change were compared with the week following the change. Again, no statistical differences between the two were found to exist.

Traffic accidents during work and work commuting

The aim of this study was to analyze both the background of the victims and drivers involved in traffic accidents during work and during the commute to and from work by car or other means and the circumstances of these accidents. The study was based on three independent data sets, of which two were based on compensation claims to insurance companies and the third came from an interview study. Men drove three out of every 4 km driven during work, but they were involved in five out of every six traffic accidents that occurred during workhours. Married people were involved in work-related traffic accidents to a significantly lower degree than other marital status groups. The workers between 50 and 65 yr of age had the highest frequency of work-related traffic accidents. Relevance to industry Safety organizations, at least in Finland, concentrate their efforts on problems inside the gates of factories, although traffic is the most important cause of accidental deaths at work. This study showed that older male white-collar workers formed a risk group for traffic accidents during workhours and older women were at risk during commuting.

The relation of acceleration force to traffic accident frequency: a pilot study

Acceleration- (g-) force and mean speed are measured onboard city buses in regular traffic. The means of Right/Left, Gas/Brake, the composite g-force and speed are correlated with drivers’ frequency of (bus) accidents for different time periods. No stable relationship is found, only a weak tendency for the dimensions of mean speed and Right/Left to predict bus accidents when time periods of one to five years are used. The many problems inherent in this kind of field research are discussed and some remedies proposed.

Slower, smaller and lighter urban cars

Rising global car ownership levels generate a variety of problems, including traffic congestion, oil depletion, air pollution and traffic accidents. These problems are usually most severe in urban areas. This paper examines the potential for large reductions in maximum speed, size and mass of urban cars to ameliorate these problems. It is found that cutting maximum speeds would significantly lower the frequency and severity of traffic accidents, especially in the third world, where fatality rates per vehicle are very high. If cars carried a maximum of two to four persons, car length and width could be reduced. Such cars would require smaller lane widths and less parking space, thus helping to ease traffic congestion. The combination of smaller and slower vehicles means that car mass can also be greatly reduced, which in turn reduces fuel use and, with it, urban air pollution and carbon dioxide emissions.

Reduced visual capacity increases the risk of accidents in street traffic

This study was carried out to investigate the relationship between the frequency of traffic accidents and impaired vision. Seven hundred and fifty-four drivers involved in accidents were recruited, in addition to 250 accident-free drivers similar in age and driving experience as an control group. The age distribution of the persons involved in traffic accidents (mean 56.3 years) was similar to that of the control group (mean 57.7 years), the difference was not statistically significant. Both groups underwent a complete ophthalmological examination. All three types of accidents (night-time accidents, violations of right of way, accidents during an overtaking manoeuvre) had a statistically significantly higher incidence of reduced photopic visual acuity, mesopic vision and an increased sensitivity to glare. Some other visual functions were also abnormal, with differences according to the type of accident. In particular, there were noticeable differences between the control group and those who were involved in night-time accidents regarding mesopic vision and sensitivity to glare. Concerning mesopic vision, 15% of the 261 persons involved in night-time accidents did not reach the contrast limit of 1:5; with glare, 20.7% failed. In comparison 4% of the control group reached this critical limit without glare and 7.6% with glare. These differences are highly statistically significant. In contrast to these findings, many of the drivers involved in accidents assessed their own visual capability as "excellent". The results of this study show that reduced mesopic vision and increased sensitivity to glare are accompanied by an increased risk of night-time accidents (for example, collisions with a non-illuminated obstacle). This emphasizes the importance of regular ophthalmological check-ups including visual functions such as mesopic vision and sensitivity to glare, which currently are not required by the traffic laws in Germany.