Traffic environment and demographic factors affecting impaired driving and crashes

Risky behaviors and road safety: An exploration of age and gender influences on road accident rates

Human behavior is a dominant factor in road accidents, contributing to more than 70% of such incidents. However, gathering detailed data on individual drivers' behavior is a significant challenge in the field of road safety. As a result, researchers often narrow the scope of their studies thus limiting the generalizability of their findings. Our study aims to address this issue by identifying demographic-related variables and their indirect effects on road accident frequency. The theoretical basis is set through existing literature linking demographics to risky driving behavior and through the concept of "close to home" effect, finding that the upwards of 62% of accidents happen within 11km of a driver's home. Using regression-based machine learning models, our study, looking at England, UK, explores the theoretical linkages between demographics of an area and road accident frequency, finding that census data is able to explain over 28% of the variance in road accident rates per capita. While not replacing more in-depth research on driver behavior, this research validates trends found in the literature through the use of widely available data with the use of novel methods. The results of this study support the use of demographic data from the national census that is obtainable at a large spatial and temporal scale to estimate road accident risks; additionally, it demonstrates a methodology to further explore potential indirect relationships and proxies between behaviors and road accident risk.

Relationship between using cell phone and the risk of accident with motor vehicles: An analytical cross-sectional study

PURPOSE

Traffic accidents are one of the major health problems in the world, being the first cause of burden of illness and the second leading cause of death in Iran. The Sistan-Baluchestan province is one of the most accidental provinces of Iran with the highest rate of accidents-caused deaths. This study was conducted to determine the risk factors associated with traffic accidents in Zahedan through 2013 to 2016.

METHODS

This analytical cross-sectional study was carried out on 223 drivers from Zahedan who were traumatized by traffic accident and sent to Zahedan hospitals. The data were obtained through interviews taken by the trained interviewers via refereeing to the medical records and collected in the researcher-made checklist. Census was obtained from the study subjects. For data analysis, independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, Chi-square and logistic regression were used with the Stata software version 11.0.

RESULTS

In this study, 223 male subjects with the mean age of (32.54 ± 12.95) years, 39.8% single and 60.2% married, entered for investigation. Most accidents (38.8%) occurred between 12:00 to 17:59. While driving, 47.1% of the study subjects were using cell phones, 89.1% had manual use of mobile phones, 21.9% had a habit of sending short message service (SMS) and 23.4% had sent SMS within 10 min before the accident. The one way analysis of variance showed that the mean age of individuals with marital status, driving experience, education and accident with motorcycle were significantly different (p < 0.05). Also, the multivariate logistic regression test indicated a significant relationship of smoking, ethnicity, insurance and SMS typing while driving with motorcycle accident (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

In this study, SMS and smoking while driving had the highest risk among the variables studied in the motorcycle accidents. Therefore, effective education attempting to enhance people's awareness about the consequences of using cell phone and smoking during driving to reduce traffic accidents seems necessary.

Important Aspects of Human Behavior in Road Traffic Accidents

Worldwide road traffic accidents have been increasing. Human behaviors and environmental factors are often responsible for such events. This being a serious public health concern, public health interventions are needed to minimize the rate of road traffic accidents. We aimed to identify broader human behaviors, sociodemographic factors, and environmental factors associated with the risk of road traffic accidents. We searched for the relevant studies in electronic database including PubMed, Cochrane, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and World Health Organization global health library. In addition, a manual search was also performed. Findings from scientific literature were presented in a summative form. Young age, male gender, speed, influence of substance, use of mobile phone, driving experience, temperament, attitude, aggression, stress, anxiety, emotionality, fatigue, lack of sleep, and road conditions were found closely associated with a risk of road traffic accidents. Despite having substantial driving training and ability to handling motor vehicles, professional drivers such as bus and taxi drivers are very vulnerable to road traffic accidents. This study reports that the increasing prevalence of road traffic accidents can be addressed significantly by applying behavior change theories. The health belief model was found useful in promoting safer driving.

Investigating influence factors of traffic violations at signalized intersections using data gathered from traffic enforcement camera

To effectively reduce traffic violations that often cause severe crashes at signalized intersections, exploring their contributing factors seems hugely urgent and essential. This study attempted to investigate the influence factors of wrong-way driving (WWD), red-light-running (RLR), violating traffic markings (VTM), and driving in the inaccurate oriented lane (DIOL) at signalized intersections by using data collected from traffic enforcement camera in Hohhot, China. To this end, an ordinary multinomial logit model was developed. By considering the unobserved heterogeneity between observations, a random effects multinomial logit model was proposed as well. After that, the marginal effects of explanatory variables were computed. The outcomes showed that non-local vehicles were more likely to commit WWD and VTM than local vehicles. WWD and RLR frequently occurred in the daytime and evening (6:00–23:59), and on most days within a week. RLR and DIOL mainly happened in June and July. The left-turn lane ratio significantly increased RLR and DIOL. The cloudy, partly cloudy, and rainy days obviously increased WWD and VTM. The temperature from 21 to 30 degrees centigrade was apparently associated with the higher likelihoods of RLR and DIOL. According to the findings of this study, some intervention measures, targeting different vehicle types and considering temporal factors, road, and weather conditions, were recommended to reduce WWD, RLR, VTM, and DIOL at signalized intersections.

Role of sensation seeking and attitudes as mediators between age of driver and risky driving of Powered Two Wheelers

INTRODUCTION

This study examines the effect of age of driver on risky driving of Powered Two-Wheelers (PTW) employing sensation seeking and safety attitudes as mediators.

METHODS

A survey was conducted with 1299 PTW drivers (1089 males and 210 females) within the age of 18 and 63years, living in the state of Kerala, India. The questionnaire consisted of 31 items to measure sensation seeking, safety attitude, and risky driving of the drivers.

RESULTS

Mediation models were examined using sensation seeking as mediator and secondly safety attitudes as mediators. The relationship between the driver's age and risky driving was fully mediated by all the three variables.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

Results of this study suggest that safety strategies should be employed to reduce risky driving tendencies that could be achieved by shaping or adapting the mediators (reducing sensation seeking and enhancing safety attitudes). This goal could be reached by starting to educate children about this at an early stage when they are at school as well as by social learning and safety awareness campaigns.

A comparison of contributing effects on 2-vehicle alcohol-related crashes between impaired and nonimpaired operators

OBJECTIVE

Driving under the influence of alcohol is a crime that places the lives of all motorists in danger. Though it is a largely preventable act, impaired driving has accounted for 31 to 38% of fatal crashes across the country over the last decade. When an impaired operator crashes his or her vehicle, there is often a second unit, of which the operator is not impaired, involved in the crash.

METHODS

This research looks at approximately 14,000 2-unit crashes involving an impaired operator in the State of Ohio from 2008 through 2012. The research is focused on determining the effects of crash and operator characteristics in 2-unit alcohol-related crashes through the use of 2 mixed logit models.

RESULTS

It is found that several factors have similar effects on the injury severities of both the impaired and nonimpaired operators, including head-on crashes, the use of seat belts, and the deployment of airbags. There are, however, several factors that affect the 2 operators differently. It is found that the impaired operator's injury severity is based on the type and, more important, the size of the vehicle he or she is driving, the roadway geometry, and the speed of the vehicle driven by the nonimpaired operator. The nonimpaired operator is equally affected by the speed of the impaired vehicle as much as his or her own speed, and the nonimpaired operator's injury severity is virtually independent of the type of vehicle being driven.

CONCLUSIONS

Researchers may disseminate the results to community groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving and Safe Communities to increase awareness of the dangers of drunk driving in an effort to reduce the number of alcohol-related crashes.

High crash areas resulting in injuries and deaths in Tehran traffic areas from november 2011 through february 2012: a geographic information system analysis

BACKGROUND

Evaluation of intra-city roads in terms of environmental factors of motor vehicle injuries can help us to better identify these factors and the share of each of the factors in injuries. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the high injury areas and the risk factors of motor vehicle crashes resulting in injury and death in Tehran, the capital city of Iran, from November 2011 through February 2012.

METHODS

In this cross sectional study, the locations of the motor vehicle injuries resulting in injuries and deaths were obtained from police stations in Tehran. The coordinates of the injuries locations were extracted and entered into the Arc-GIS software to overlay the different layers of geographical data and extract the risk map.

RESULTS

A total of 4257 motor vehicle injuries were evaluated in this study. Forty-two injuries (1%) resulted in death and 4215 injuries (99%) resulted in injury. The traffic districts 5 and 21 had the highest frequency of injuries resulting in death. The type of the motor vehicle resulting in injury or death was motorcycle in 2330 injuries (54.73%).

CONCLUSION

The frequency of traffic injuries is more in the west and northwest areas of Tehran, and it is caused more by motorcycles in terms of traffic and motor injuries resulting in injury and death. It is useful to conduct more studies to better identify these factors considering their importance in traffic injuries.

Child passengers killed in reckless and alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes

INTRODUCTION

About 20years ago, concern was raised about the dangers that children face when driven by drinking drivers in the United States. During the last decade, the pace of research on this topic subsided. Yet in 2010, every day three children younger than age 15 were killed, and 469 were injured in motor-vehicle crashes.

METHOD

The aim of this effort is to describe the status of the problem in the United States and suggest lines of research. From the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), we selected crashes in which a driver aged 21 or older was driving at least one child younger than age 15. We identified crashes that occurred at different times of the day in which the driver was speeding, ran a red light, or was alcohol positive. We described the drivers' demographics and examined how they relate to the different crash types.

RESULTS

We found that, although driving a child seems to protect against the studied forms of risky driving, such protection varies sharply depending upon the drivers' and children's demographics and the crash type. There is no clear reason to explain the drivers' decision to endanger the children that they drive. The percent of children killed in speeding-related and red-light running motor-vehicle crashes has remained relatively stable during the last decade. Future research must (a) examine the effectiveness of current child endangerment laws; (b) examine crashes other than fatal; and (c) be more targeted, looking at specific drivers' age and gender, specific children's ages, the time of the crash, and the type of crash.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

Significant attention needs to be given towards improving state laws on child endangerment. Policymakers' reaction to this problem is tentative because of our limited understanding of the problem; therefore, further research is needed. With unfocused countermeasures and prevention efforts, we have been restricted in our ability to evaluate these responses. The findings of this report should be informative to policy makers.

Investigating the self-reported behavior of drivers and their attitudes to traffic violations

INTRODUCTION

Driving behavior theoretical models consider attitudes as an important determinant of driver behavior. Moreover, the association between the self-reported tendency to commit violations and accident involvement is widely recognized. This research investigates drivers' self-reported behavior and attitudes to risky behaviors related to the traffic violations of speeding, drink-driving, and cell phone use using cluster analysis.

METHOD

A sample of 601 Greek drivers participating at the SARTRE 4 pan-European survey is utilized. The analysis identified three clusters of drivers. Drivers in Cluster 1 commit traffic violations more often; drivers in Cluster 2 favor traffic violation countermeasures while having moderate views toward compliance with traffic rules; and drivers in Cluster 3 strongly support traffic violation countermeasures and also have strong views toward compliance with traffic rules. Risky behaviors and related attitudes that differentiate the three distinct groups of drivers (clusters) were determined.

RESULTS

The findings indicate that differences in attitudes and behaviors may be attributed to factors such as age, gender, and area of residence. The research findings also provided some insight about the current level of drivers' attitudes to traffic violations, especially those that negatively affect traffic safety. The pattern of their views on violations may form the basis of risk behavior-related interventions tailored to the identified groups, aiming at informing, educating, and raising the awareness of the public.

IMPACT ON INDUSTRY

Agencies focused on safety interventions could exploit this information in designing and implementing education campaigns, enforcement programs and in defining relevant priorities.

Passengers of impaired drivers

INTRODUCTION

The aims of this study are: (a) to estimate the prevalence of passengers riding with alcohol-impaired drivers; (b) to investigate the role of demographic factors (age, gender, race/ethnicity, educational status) and relevant driving conditions (time of the day, trip origin, vehicle ownership) on shaping the likelihood of alcohol-impaired driving; (c) to identify and estimate the prevalence of passengers as alternative drivers (PADs); and (d) to examine the role that vehicle ownership plays in shaping the occurrence of PADs.

METHOD

Data came from a unique convenience sample of passengers obtained from the 2007 National Roadside Survey, a random sample of drivers from the 48 contiguous states.

RESULTS

The prevalence of PADs in the targeted population (mostly weekend night vehicles) was higher with drivers at .00 Collapse

Key Words

• nrs
• passengers
• alternative drivers
• drinking and driving
• designated driver

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MESH Headings

• Accidents, Traffic/prevention & control
• Adolescent
• Adult
• Alcoholic Intoxication
• Automobile Driving/statistics & numerical data
• Female
• Humans
• Likelihood Functions
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Motor Vehicles
• Social Responsibility
• Young Adult

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Grants

• 27301C0040 NIEHS NIH HHS
• P20 AA017831 NIAAA NIH HHS
• R21 AA018265 NIAAA NIH HHS

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Affiliation(s)

Eduardo Romano Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (PIRE), Impaired Driving Center, PIRE, 11720 Beltsville Dr., Suite 900, Calverton, MD USA 20705-3111
Tara Kelley-Baker Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (PIRE), Impaired Driving Center, PIRE, 11720 Beltsville Dr., Suite 900, Calverton, MD USA 20705-3111
John Lacey Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (PIRE), Impaired Driving Center, PIRE, 11720 Beltsville Dr., Suite 900, Calverton, MD USA 20705-3111

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