RESUMEN
OBJECTIVES: Close to a tenth of all large truck crashes result from rolling over during some maneuver. The aim of this study was to identify causes of these serious events as well as preventive measures that could be taken to reduce their number. METHODS: Detailed descriptions of 231 rollovers provided by field investigators were analyzed to identify causes. The descriptions addressed crash location, the nature of the crash, effect upon the vehicles involved, injuries and treatment, and contributing conditions. Causes were inferred from the nature of the crash. RESULTS: Almost half of the rollover crashes resulted from failing to adjust speed to curves, loads, brake condition, road surfaces, and intersections. A second major contributor involved lack of attention, including general inattention, misdirected attention, falling asleep, and distraction. The third major factor involved control errors, including oversteering, understeering, overcorrecting for errors, and minor control errors. The remainder were not driving errors and included those of other drivers, those occurring before the truck took to the road, and the condition of the vehicle before it was driven. CONCLUSIONS: Although they account for but a tenth of all large truck crashes, rollovers result from causes that are relatively unique to the vehicle and where it is driven. Programs could improve safety through the use of video to expose truck drivers to the situations causing rollovers, along with simulation allowing drivers to experience the consequences of errors without the harmful results of actual rollovers.
Asunto(s)
Accidentes de Tránsito/estadística & datos numéricos , Atención , Conducción de Automóvil , Vehículos a Motor , Accidentes de Tránsito/prevención & control , Conducción de Automóvil/psicología , Conducción de Automóvil/estadística & datos numéricos , Planificación Ambiental , Humanos , Factores de Riesgo , Seguridad , Estados Unidos/epidemiología , Heridas y Lesiones/epidemiologíaRESUMEN
The Large Truck Crash Causation Study undertaken by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration describes 239 crashes in which a truck rolled over. In-depth analysis revealed almost half resulted from failing to adjust speed to curves in the road, (mostly on-and off-ramps), the load being carried, condition of the brakes, road surface, and intersection conditions. A second major crash contributor involved attention: simply being inattentive, dozing or falling asleep, and distraction, all leading to situations where a sudden direction change resulted in a rollover. The third large crash contributor involved steering: over-steering to the point of rolling over, not steering enough to stay in lane, and overcorrecting to the point of having to counter-steer to remain on the road. Finally, loads are a frequent problem when drivers fail to take account of their weight, height or security, or when loading takes place before they are assigned. Instruction in rollover prevention, like most truck driver training, comes through printed publications. The use of video would help drivers recognize incipient rollovers while currently available simulation would allow drivers to experience the consequences of mistakes without risk.
Asunto(s)
Accidentes de Tránsito/estadística & datos numéricos , Vehículos a Motor , Accidentes de Tránsito/mortalidad , Atención , Conducción de Automóvil/psicología , Bases de Datos Factuales , Humanos , Estudios Retrospectivos , Factores de Riesgo , Asunción de RiesgosRESUMEN
Each year over 600 people die and more than 4000 are reported injured in recreational boating accidents. As with most other accidents, human error is the major contributor. U.S. Coast Guard reports of 3358 accidents were analyzed to identify errors in each of the boat types by which statistics are compiled: auxiliary (motor) sailboats, cabin motorboats, canoes and kayaks, house boats, personal watercraft, open motorboats, pontoon boats, row boats, sail-only boats. The individual errors were grouped into categories on the basis of similarities in the behavior involved. Those presented here are the categories accounting for at least 5% of all errors when summed across boat types. The most revealing and significant finding is the extent to which the errors vary across types. Since boating is carried out with one or two types of boats for long periods of time, effective accident prevention measures, including safety instruction, need to be geared to individual boat types.
Asunto(s)
Accidentes/estadística & datos numéricos , Recreación , Navíos , Prevención de Accidentes , Humanos , Recreación/psicología , Seguridad , Análisis y Desempeño de Tareas , Estados Unidos/epidemiologíaRESUMEN
The Preventing Alcohol-Related Convictions (PARC) program is a novel educational curriculum for first-time DUI offenders, with the ultimate goal of reducing DUI recidivism. It differs from traditional DUI education and prevention programs in that it does not suggest to DUI offenders that they must abstain from alcohol entirely or control their drinking to prevent a future DUI; rather, it teaches students to prevent a future DUI by not driving their cars to drinking events. Thus, the emphasis of the curriculum is on controlling driving rather than controlling drinking to avoid future DUI convictions. The implementation of the program is ongoing throughout the state of Florida. The current randomized study focused on intermediate outcomes relevant for DUI recidivism; specifically, individuals' readiness for change regarding drinking and driving, and their endorsement of a PARC planning and action approach (controlling driving) versus a traditional approach (controlling drinking). The current research demonstrated that the PARC program is effective in moving participants toward more readiness for change and toward a strategy of planning ahead to avoid driving to any venue in which drinking may occur. Future research will assess the ultimate effect on DUI recidivism.
Asunto(s)
Intoxicación Alcohólica , Conducción de Automóvil/educación , Curriculum , Evaluación de Programas y Proyectos de Salud , Control Social Formal , Conducción de Automóvil/psicología , Florida , Humanos , Desarrollo de Programa , Prevención SecundariaRESUMEN
The per-mile accident rate of 16-year-old novices is approximately 10 times that of adults, a difference that has been attributed to the immaturity of youth and the errors of inexperience. Research separating the two influences shows that, over the first few years, the effects of experience greatly exceed those of age, with reductions of approximately two-thirds in the first 500 miles of driving. A study was undertaken to identify the behavioral antecedents of young driver accidents, including any subset of antecedents that could account for the inordinately high initial accident rate. Narrative descriptions of more than 2000 accidents involving 16-19-year-old drivers in two states were analyzed for behavioral contributors. The great majority of non-fatal accidents resulted from errors in attention, visual search, speed relative to conditions, hazard recognition, and emergency maneuvers, with high speeds and patently risky behavior accounting for but a small minority. Differences in the types of errors by first year novices and more experienced youth were relatively few in number and small in magnitude, indicating that the benefits of experience apply rather generally across all aspects of driving.
Asunto(s)
Accidentes de Tránsito/estadística & datos numéricos , Conducción de Automóvil/estadística & datos numéricos , Análisis y Desempeño de Tareas , Adolescente , Adulto , California , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , MarylandRESUMEN
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.
Asunto(s)
Accidentes de Tránsito/prevención & control , Conducción de Automóvil/legislación & jurisprudencia , Concesión de Licencias/legislación & jurisprudencia , Seguridad , Adolescente , Adulto , Conducción de Automóvil/educación , Humanos , Concesión de Licencias/clasificación , Estados UnidosRESUMEN
The legal limits of blood alcohol concentration (BAC) for operators of commercial vehicles throughout the United States, and underage drivers in most states, are approximately half the 0.08-0.10% imposed on other drivers. Easily administered measures involving performance and appearance are needed to establish probable cause for requesting breath tests. Several measures showing relationships to blood alcohol were examined for their ability to distinguish BACs under and over 0.04% within the 0.00-0.08% range. Measures of heat loss. pupillary response, balance, complex tasks, and accuracy under speed were studied in controlled experiments with alcohol-dosed subjects. The only reliable index of blood alcohol was horizontal gaze nystagmus (HGN) as administered in the standardized field sobriety test (SFST), using alternative scoring criteria. Although other measures evidenced intra-individual change at low BACs, the magnitude of change was greatly exceeded by inter-individual differences, thwarting their use in detecting drivers with BACs lower than 0.08%. HGN, however, proved as valid in detecting BACs in the 0.04-0.08% range as at the higher levels of the SFST. It is also as valid when administered to a seated subject as one standing, making it of particular benefit in enforcement, where the behavior of low BAC drivers rarely provides probable cause to request that they leave a vehicle to be tested in a standing position.