An analysis of risk factors associated with road crash severities in Namibia

Investigating the impact of temporal instability in smart roadway retrofitting on terrain-related crash injury severity

The advancement of intelligent road systems in developing countries poses unique challenges in identifying risk factors and implementing safety strategies. The variability of factors affecting crash injury severity leads to different risks across levels of roadway smartness, especially in hazardous terrains, complicating the adaptation of smart technologies. Therefore, this study investigates the temporal instability of factors affecting injury severities in crashes across various terrains, with a focus on the evolution of road smartness. Crash data from selected complex terrain regions in Shaanxi Province during smart road adaptation were used, and categorized into periods before, during, and after smart road implementations. A series of mixed logit models were employed to account for unobserved heterogeneity in mean and variance, and likelihood ratio tests were conducted to assess the spatio-temporal instability of model parameters across different topographic settings and smart processes. Moreover, a comparison between partially constrained and unconstrained temporal modeling approaches was made. The findings reveal significant differences in injury severity determinants across terrain conditions as roadway intelligence progressed. On the other hand, certain factors like pavement damage, truck and pedestrian involvement were identified that had relatively stable effects on crash injury severities. Out-of-sample predictions further emphasize the need for modeling across terrain and roadway development stages. These insights are crucial for developing tailored safety measures for smart road retrofitting in different terrain conditions, thereby supporting the transition towards smarter road systems in developing regions.

Analyzing the factors affecting the crash severity level at urban roundabouts in non-lane-based heterogeneous traffic

Pivotal crash factors are investigated, and crash-severity model for the safety assessment at roundabouts and its vicinity in non-lane based heterogenous traffic is developed. An ordered-probit model was developed using crash-data collected between 2015-2019 for 20 roundabouts in India. The analysis revealed critical influencing parameters for determining the severity-level of crash outcomes at roundabouts, namely, inscribed-circle diameter, height of central island, number of circulatory lanes, presence of splitter island and median, posted-speed limit, type of collision, type of violation behaviour, collision partner, the pattern of collision, presence of road lane-marking, presence of street-light and age of victims. To precisely quantify the impact of each significant factor, marginal effects analysis was also carried out. The results show that the probability of fatal-injuries increased by 14.28% due to angle-collision, 15% for hit-pedestrians, 20.6% due to the pattern of collision and 15.60% due to the collision-partner, Whereas the probability of occurrence of grievous injury was the highest for rear-end with 17%, followed by sideswipe collision with 16% respectively. This study's findings can aid in developing effective remedies to reduce the crash severity for roundabouts road-users and updating the roundabout design standards, considering the safety perceptive.

Factors influencing the road accidents in low and middle-income countries: a systematic literature review

This paper studies the main factors affecting road traffic accidents (RTAs) using a systematic review. The primary focus is on factors related to road characteristics and driver behaviours. This review also addresses the socioeconomic and demographic factors to provide a clear overview of which groups suffer the most from RTAs. Several factors were found to affect RTAs, notably road characteristics: highways, high-speed roads, unplanned intersections and two-way roads without dividers; driver behaviours: reckless/aggressive driving and riding, excessive speeding, unawareness of traffic laws, and not using safety equipment; and vehicle types: four and two-wheeled. This review found that male and economically productive people with less education were mostly associated with RTAs. In addition, for most of the low and middle-income countries analyzed, there is a lack of quality data relating to RTAs. Nevertheless, this review provides researchers and policy makers with a better understanding of road accidents for improving road safety.

An in-depth analysis of head-on crash severity and fatalities in Ghana

Head-on collisions are often linked to more serious injuries compared to other types of crashes, due to the intense impact they cause. In low- and middle-income countries, these collisions frequently involve high occupancy public transportation vehicles, leading to higher fatality rates per crash. Given the high risk of injury and potential for multiple casualties, this study delves into the factors influencing the outcomes of head-on crashes and the number of fatalities in Ghana. The study analyzed six years of historical head-on collision data from Ghana and developed two models to address the issue. The injury-severity analysis was performed using a random parameter multinomial logit with heterogeneity in means and variances approach and aimed to identify the factors that have a significant impact on the severity of injuries sustained in head-on collisions, while the random parameters negative binomial fatality count model was designed to examine the factors that contribute to the number of fatalities in these crashes in the country. Results showed that head-on collisions with drivers over 65, buses, motorcycles, and those between 25 and 65 years of age were more likely to result in fatalities. Speeding and vehicle malfunctions were also found to be significant contributing factors to fatal head-on collisions. Head-on crashes involving minibuses and incidents where the driver was attempting to overtake another vehicle were found to be more likely to result in a higher number of fatalities. The results of this study uncover an intriguing interaction between human-related elements and socioeconomic factors, which pose obstacles to the Government's endeavor to upgrade the major highways in the country. Additionally, the increasing need for transportation has led to the presence of vehicles on the roads that may not meet safety standards. Consequently, it is no surprise that several of the study's findings align with expectations. Nevertheless, within the specific context of Ghana, these findings furnish compelling data-driven evidence supporting the adoption and implementation of the safe systems approach as a means to tackle fatal head-on collisions in the country.

Nurses' Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practice of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation at a Selected Training Hospital in Namibia: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Background

Nurses play a key role in cases of cardiopulmonary arrest by promptly attending to and initiating cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Effective cardiopulmonary resuscitation thus requires nurses to possess appropriate attitudes, competencies, and adherence to the best nursing practice. Cardiac arrests are a prevalent cause of fatalities, being responsible for approximately 30% of deaths worldwide. Despite this statistic, however, research in this specific field is lacking in Namibia.

Objective

The objective of this research was to examine registered nurses' knowledge, attitudes toward, and practice with regard to cardiopulmonary resuscitation at a selected teaching hospital in Namibia.

Methods

A cross-sectional survey design using a self-administered questionnaire was utilized to purposively recruit 158 registered nurses from the inpatient and outpatient departments of a teaching hospital in Namibia. Descriptive and chi-square tests were performed using SPSSv26.

Results

The results of the study indicate that a significant percentage of nurses have limited knowledge (14.7 ± 1.50), negative attitudes (36.2 ± 4.8), and poor practice (11.16 ± 1.18) when it comes to cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Their poor knowledge is strongly associated with poor practice (χ2 = 9.162, P = .002). The study further revealed a significant correlation between the departments in which the nurses worked and their practice of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, suggesting that the work environment is a crucial factor in determining a nurse's approach to emergency care.

Conclusion

The findings of study indicate that the cardiopulmonary resuscitation practice in the selected hospital is unsafe due to the registered nurses' poor knowledge and negative attitudes. It is strongly recommended that hospital managers and policy-makers take steps to formulate guidelines that mandate regular cardiopulmonary resuscitation training at predetermined times.

Classification of Driver Injury Severity for Accidents Involving Heavy Vehicles with Decision Tree and Random Forest

Accidents involving heavy vehicles are of significant concern as it poses a higher risk of fatality to both heavy vehicle drivers and other road users. This study is carried out based on the heavy vehicle crash data of 2014, extracted from the MIROS Road Accident and Analysis and Database System (M-ROADS). The main objective of this study is to identify significant variables associated with categories of injury severity as well as classify and predict heavy vehicle drivers’ injury severity in Malaysia using the classification and regression tree (CART) and random forest (RF) methods. Both CART and RF found that types of collision, driver errors, number of vehicles involved, driver’s age, lighting condition and types of heavy vehicle are significant factors in predicting the severity of heavy vehicle drivers’ injuries. Both models are comparable, but the RF classifier achieved slightly better accuracy. This study implies that the variables associated with categories of injury severity can be referred by road safety practitioners to plan for the best measures needed in reducing road fatalities, especially among heavy vehicle drivers.