Journal of Safety Research

BACKGROUND: Air carriers, but not general aviation, have long employed in-flight data to identify risks/implement corrective measures for improved safety. Herein, using in-flight data, aircraft (in non-instrument-rated private pilots (PPLs) ownership) operations in two potentially hazardous environments (mountains, degraded visibility) were researched for safety practice deficiencies. Four questions were posed, the first two related to mountainous terrain operations: were aircraft (a) flown with hazardous ridge-level winds, (b) within gliding distance of level terrain? Regarding degraded visibility, did aviators (c) depart with low cloud ceilings (≤3,000 ft...

INTRODUCTION: Police-recorded road injury data are frequently used to approximate injury risk for different road user groups but a detailed analysis of incidents involving ridden horses has not previously been conducted. This study aims to describe human injuries resulting from interactions between ridden horses and other road users on public roads in Great Britain and identify factors associated with severe to fatal injuries. METHOD: Police-recorded road incident data involving ridden horses (2010-2019) were extracted from the Department for Transport (DfT) database and described...

PROBLEM: Sideswipe collisions in the opposite direction often result in more severe injuries than the typical same-direction crashes, especially when light trucks are involved. This study investigates the time-of-day fluctuations and temporal volatility of potential factors that affect the injury severity of reverse sideswipe collisions. METHODS: A series of random parameters logit models with heterogeneous means and heteroscedastic variances are developed and utilized to explore unobserved heterogeneity inherent in variables and preclude biased parameter estimation...

INTRODUCTION: Although the braking system plays a key role in a safe and smooth vehicular operation, it has not been given proper attention and hence brake failures are still underrepresented in traffic safety. The current body of literature on brake failure-related crashes is very limited. Moreover, no previous study was found to extensively investigate the factors associated with brake failures and the corresponding injury severity. This study aims to fill this knowledge gap by examining brake failure-related crashes and assessing the factors associated with the corresponding occupant injury severity...

INTRODUCTION: Shared e-scooters are an emerging mode of transportation with many features that make their physical properties, behavior, and travel patterns unique. Safety concerns have been raised concerning their usage, but it is difficult to understand effective interventions with so little data available. METHODS: Using media and police reports, a crash dataset was developed of rented dockless e-scooter fatalities in crashes involving motor vehicles that occurred in the United States in 2018-2019 (n = 17) and the corresponding records from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data were identified...

INTRODUCTION: Research exploring the relationship between transformational leadership and safety has used transformational leadership in context-free (e.g., "general transformational leadership," or GTL) and context-specific forms (e.g., "safety-specific transformational leadership," or SSTL), assuming these constructs are theoretically and empirically equivalent. In this paper, a paradox theory is drawn on (Schad, Lewis, Raisch, & Smith, 2016; Smith & Lewis, 2011) to reconcile the relationship between these two forms of transformational leadership and safety...

INTRODUCTION: This study aims to increase the prediction accuracy of crash frequency on roadway segments that can forecast future safety on roadway facilities. A variety of statistical and machine learning (ML) methods are used to model crash frequency with ML methods generally having a higher prediction accuracy. Recently, heterogeneous ensemble methods (HEM), including "stacking," have emerged as more accurate and robust intelligent techniques providing more reliable and accurate predictions...

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to examine the trends in fatal unintentional drowning rates among persons aged ≤ 29 years by sex, age, race/ethnicity, and the U.S. census region from 1999 through 2020. METHODS: Data were abstracted from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's WONDER database. International Classification of Diseases Codes, 10th Revision; V90, V92, W65-W74 were used to identify persons aged ≤ 29 years who died of unintentional drowning...

INTRODUCTION: In the unprecedented year of 2020, the rapid spread of COVID-19 disrupted everyday activities worldwide, leading the majority of countries to impose lockdowns and confine citizens in order to minimize the exponential increase in cases and casualties. To date, very few studies have been concerned with the effect of the pandemic on driving behavior and road safety, and usually explore data from a limited time span. METHOD: This study presents a descriptive overview of several driving behavior indicators as well as road crash data in correlation with the strictness of response measures in Greece and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA)...

INTRODUCTION: Hundreds of adults are killed or injured each year while operating off-highway vehicles. Four common risk-taking behaviors were identified on off-highway vehicles in the literature and examined intention to engage in such behaviors within the context of the Theory of Planned Behavior. METHOD: One hundred and sixty-one adults completed measures of experience on off-highway vehicles and injury exposure followed by a self-report created according to the predictive structure of the Theory of Planned Behavior...

INTRODUCTION: Disruptions to aviation operations occur daily on a micro-level with negligible impacts beyond the inconvenience of rebooking and changing aircrew schedules. The unprecedented disruption in global aviation due to COVID-19 highlighted a need to evaluate emergent safety issues rapidly. METHOD: This paper uses causal machine learning to examine the heterogeneous effects of COVID-19 on reported aircraft incursions/excursions. The analysis utilized self report data from NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System collected from 2018 to 2020...

INTRODUCTION: Road crashes are a major, preventable cause of death and serious injury. Being distracted by a mobile phone while driving can increase the risk of a crash by three to four times and increase crash severity. To reduce distracted driving, on 1 March 2017 the penalty for using a hand-held mobile phone while driving in Britain doubled to ₤200 and six penalty points. METHOD: We examine the effects of this increased penalty on numbers of serious or fatal crashes over 6 weeks either side of the intervention using Regression Discontinuity in Time...

INTRODUCTION: It is often assumed that consumers want partial driving automation in their vehicles, yet there has been little research on the topic. Also unclear is what the public's appetite is for hands-free driving capability, automated (auto)-lane-change functionality, and driver monitoring that helps reinforce proper use of these features. METHOD: Through an internet-based survey of a nationally representative sample of 1,010 U.S. adult drivers, this study explored consumer demand for different aspects of partial driving automation...

INTRODUCTION: The Ontario manufacturing sector is over-represented when it comes to workers' compensation claims in the province. A previous study suggested that this may be the result of compliance gaps with respect to the province's occupational health and safety (OHS) legislation. These gaps may be, in part, due to differences in perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs toward OHS between workers and management. This is noteworthy as these two cohorts, when working well together, can foster a healthy and safe work environment...

PROBLEM: Utility All-Terrain Vehicles (ATVs) are one major cause of youth injuries and fatalities on farms. Utility ATVs have heavy weights and fast speeds that require complex maneuvering. Youth's physical capabilities may not be sufficient to perform those complex maneuvers correctly. Therefore, it is hypothesized that most youth engage in ATV-related incidents because they ride vehicles unfit for them. There is a need to assess ATV-youth fit based on youth anthropometry. METHOD: This study focused on evaluating potential inconsistencies between the operational requirements of utility ATVs and the anthropometric measures of youth through virtual simulations...

BACKGROUND: The popularity of electric scooters (e-scooters) and the shared e-scooter services as new means of transportation worldwide led to high numbers of injuries requiring emergency department (ED) visits. Private and rental e-scooters have different sizes and capabilities, offering several possible riding positions. While the rising use of e-scooters and their associated injuries have been reported, little is known about the influence of riding position on injury characteristics...

INTRODUCTION: Mobile phones are used universally due to their versatility and easy-to-use features; this includes when users are walking and when crossing streets. At intersections, using a mobile phone is a secondary task that can distract from the primary task of scanning the road environment and ensuring it is safe to traverse. Such a distraction has been shown to increase risky pedestrian behavior compared to non-distracted behavior. Developing an intervention to make distracted pedestrians aware of imminent danger is a promising approach to refocus pedestrians on their primary task and avoid incidents...

INTRODUCTION: In an era of workplace safety where psychosocial risks are widely recognized as occupational hazards, emerging research has sought to clarify the impact of these risks and the requisite interventions for improving psychosocial safety climate and reducing psychological injury risk. METHOD: The construct of psychosocial safety behavior (PSB) provides a novel framework for emerging research that seeks to apply a behavior-based safety approach to workplace psychosocial risks across several high-risk industries...

INTRODUCTION: This study explored the influence of personal attributes on subjectively-reported aggressive driving behaviors, with an emphasis on the inter-influences between subjectively-reported aggressive driving behaviors between self and other individuals. To determine this, a survey was conducted comprising participants' socio-demographic data, information on their history with automotive accidents, and subjective scales to report on the driving behaviors between self and others...

INTRODUCTION: In Maine, lane departure crashes account for over 70% of roadway fatalities. The majority of roadways in Maine are rural. Moreover, Maine has aging infrastructure, houses the oldest population in the United States, and experiences the third coldest weather in the United States. METHODS: This study analyzes the impact of roadway, driver, and weather factors on the severity of single-vehicle lane departure crashes occurring from 2017 to 2019 on rural roadways in Maine...