Scholarly information regarding some aspect of traffic safety.
A new Road Safety Monitor (RSM) poll by the Traffic Injury Research Foundation (TIRF) shows that a majority of young Canadian drivers are aware that they cannot drive safely after drinking alcohol. The public opinion poll conducted in September 2010 investigated a variety of drinking and driving behaviours and attitudes among youth including riding with a drinking driver.
This study released by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety is based on a small group of teen drivers using a vehicle equipped with an event data recorder called Drivecam. The Drivecam system records video and data based on abnormal triggering events such as sudden steering or braking. Recorded events were compared and contrasted for beginner (supervised) and novice (unsupervised) drivers.
Driver error is linked to 75% to 90% of road crashes. This Australian report shows that these errors do not happen on their own. They occur within a road system. That system shapes how people drive and how often mistakes happen.
Commercial Truck and Bus Safety Synthesis Program (CTBSSP) Synthesis 18: Older Commercial Drivers: Do They Pose a Safety Risk? explores age-related changes in the basic functional abilities needed to drive safely. The report is designed to help assist industry and labor practitioners in promoting safer commercial operations.
This report produced by the US Transportation Research Board's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) explores human factors principles and findings for consideration by highway designers and traffic engineers. The report is designed to help the non-expert in human factors to consider more effectively the roadway user’s capabilities and limitations in the design and operation of highway facilities.
TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 641: Guidance for the Design and Application of Shoulder and Centerline Rumble Strips explores the design and application of shoulder and center line rumble strips as a crash reduction measure.
Driver fatigue is an important causal factor in many highway crashes—and is of particular concern in the trucking industry where many operators undertake long haul drives with limited amounts of sleep. Previous studies suggest that fatigue can affect steering performance and speed control.
Lloyd's TSB Insurance commissioned a study that suggests driving with a cold or the flu can impair a driver by up to 11%, comparable to having consumed a double of hard liquor. A single sneeze lasts about 2 seconds, during which the driver's eyes are closed. At a speed of 80 km/h this will mean a travel distance of almost 45 meters.
Speed limiters or governors, are devices that control a vehicle engine to only permit reaching a pre-programmed maximum speed. The limited response to this study suggests that limiters reduce the occurrence of crashes, save fuel and reduce tire wear.
Researchers at the Monash University Accident Research Center (MUARC) have looked at the relationship between the criminal activity of individuals and the potential for their involvement in fatal or serious injury collisions. Not surprisingly, they found that those who engage in anti-social behaviour are also likely to exhibit risky driving behaviour.
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